I'm having a YART SALE - what in the world is that?

I'm participating in the second annual Yart Sale on Etsy, sponsored by the Etsy Supplies Street Team. What IS a Yart Sale, you ask?

It's a yard sale with an artistic spin: Art + Yard sale = Yart Sale! All Etsy sellers are invited to participate - you can read all about it here.

I'm offering FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING on EVERYTHING at http://www.tatsuko.etsy.com/! Just mention "Yart Sale" in your note to seller at check-out, pay as usual and I will then refund your shipping fees! If you prefer, you can also wait for a revised invoice prior to paying - it's totally up to you!

And... for my dear blog readers, I will take an additional 20% off all items! Please mention my blog at check-out as well, and you'll get the extra discount - a little thank-you for coming back to my blog even when my posts are sporadic...!

Sushi platters ship for free:

And you'll pay nothing to have your Hinoiri comfy bracelet shipped to you...

Plus, there are great bargains to be found in my sale section - that all ships for FREE too!

These "Kaede" earrings, regular $20, now $14.

"Okayama Orchard" were $21, now just $14.70:

"Bright Blossoms" regularly $20, for $14:

And "Red Sakura on Purple Waves", now just $15.40 reduced from $22:

Come on in and check it out!

Lampwork beads

I've recently become a little obsessed with lampwork beads (I guess "a little" and "obsessed" don't quite go together). I check out what's been newly listed every day on Etsy - yes, EVERY day - and imagine what I could make if I had the money to buy the beads. I bought some beads awhile ago, from a few sellers and just ogled the beads, laid them out, touched them, and well, that's about it. I think I was afraid to commit to making something and then that would be it, I couldn't just admire the beads anymore. Silly, I know.

Anway, here's what I finally made for myself, and I am quite thrilled with it. I love the colours and the way the beads feel. Focal bead by Amber Van Meter, additional lampwork by Jennifer Jennings and Keitha Osterhaus.

I'll have to take a lampworking class one day!

Friday Cat AND TURTLE blogging...

I let out a gasp and then a chuckle when I saw this photo on Etsy. Everything about it is perfect - the colours, the cat's pose and attitude. Love it!

The beds are the lovely work of Jayne of likekittysville. Model kitty Betty Bob now lives with Jayne, who has rescuesd many an abandoned cat (often feral) who have come a-knocking at her door... Have a look at Jayne's other beautifully designed modern beds for your funky feline.

Onto the turtles:
A couple weeks ago, we were all having dinner at my sister Pat's, when my sister-in-law Karen happened to mention that my brother Doug will NOT read my Friday blog post if it has to do with cats. Skips right over it.

Now, Doug likes animals, has always liked my cats, is good with dogs, and their kids who are all grown and out of the house now, always had a bunch of pets: birds, guinea pigs, snakes (two that are now around 8 years old) and turtles. They couldn't have a dog or cat in the house because of allergies, but they would have if they could have. And yet, he doesn't want to read my fascinating Friday Cat blog posts. Hmmmffff!

Over the years, on top of the little pet-shop turtles for his kids, Doug also rescued some turtles who were going to be out of a home when his construction company was preparing some boggy land prior to building. I believe he's relocated turtles to new homes in ponds and marshes closer to his home (they live in a small town near Toronto) safe from the construction bulldozers. One of these turtles, Margaret, is now living in an indoor turtle pond built by my bro, along with Jesse and Flash.

Here is the pond in their living room (you can click on it to see better). Oh yeah, and btw, that wooden chest was my grandfather's and it was sitting in our musty basement for 50 years or so; Doug did an amazing job refinishing it. Back to the turtles, apparently, Margaret (the biggest one) sometimes escapes, teetering first on the bamboo fence and then leaping to the floor below, so Karen and Doug have to be careful where they walk. It seems the turtles are pretty happy here.

Which reminds me, I will have to make more of these cards...

Hope you enjoyed this Dougie! Have a good week-end everyone (^_^)

Updates: taiko and sushi...

If you've made a trip or two to my blog before, you probably know I am a member of Arashi Daiko, a taiko or Japanese drumming group here in Montreal. This is a huge part of my life and that of JF (my husband) as well; I've been playing for 10 years now and he's been playing for 13 years, and it's how we met - but that's a whole other story that I'll share another time!

This is when we were in Japan last year, filming a documentary on our taiko group, part of a television series on world music and musicians in Québec; here I'm trying to incorporate Fujimoto's san's (Yoshikazu Fujimoto is Kodo's most senior performer and the most incredible all-around artist/performer) comments and instructions into my playing while trying to calm my nerves and not make a total boob of myself. JF watches and prepares to receive comments on his playing. Photo by Melanie Taylor (thanks for taking all those shots, Melanie!).

Arashi Daiko is also going to be on tv this Saturday evening, LIVE! Yikes!!! The documentary I mentioned was on the air a few months ago, and led to this other tv show finding us, and contacting us to be on their musical variety show called Belle et Bum (kind of a quirky way of saying "Beauty and the Beast"). Very exciting, although going "live" is pretty scary. And if anyone is going to take a tumble off the edge of the stage or have something stuck on their face when a camera zooms in, it'll be me. I'm serious.

On a crafty note, staying within the realm of Japanese inspiration, here is a new sushi platter I started making this summer, but that I didn't show you all yet. It features a temaki, or hand-roll, those cone-shaped sushi packed to the brim with sushi rice and your favourite fillings - this one has fresh sake (salmon) and its loving partner, ripe avocado. A couple of nigiri and maki complete the meal, with the ever-present wasabi (horseradish paste) and shoga (ginger). I just sold the last one in my Etsy shop for this batch, but don't worry, I'll be making more shortly!

Whaddya think?

Hey, there's a SALE going on!

Yup, I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop - Buy One Get One for Half Price!

Great time to shop for Mother's Day gifts and any other gifts you might need in the coming months. Even my sale items are included in this deal, but the gift certificates and custom orders are not. *Thanks to Sherrill for being my first customer on this sale. I think she now has every style of sushi necklace I've had in my shop ☺

Don't forget to enter my 100th blog post giveaway, for your chance to win this necklace. Simply add your comment(s) and email address to the post on Friday April 25th and you will be entered for the draw that will take place on Tuesday April 29th, at 7pm! One entry per person please.

Gotta get the coffee going and get to work!

Yay! My 100th post GIVE-AWAY and Friday Cat Blogging

I never thought I'd make it, but here I am, writing my 100th post on my blog! Woo hoo! For a nostalgic look back, here's my second post, which includes a photo of one of my earliest works.

What I thought would be a once or so weekly little smidge of blabla about my life and my work and me, has turned into a habit. It has its down side since the first thing I would do in the morning, pre-blog era, is do my e-mailing and update my Etsy shop. Now I also have to get my blog post in there too. Sometimes it's after lunch before I start working in my studio, which is why I often take my work in front of the tv well into the evening too. But it's all good, I love what I do, my husband supports me and I've got a pretty happy life. Je ne peux vraiment pas me plaindre (I really can't complain)...

On the up side blogging has been great since it's something I seem to be sticking with, largely due to you all, the lovely people who are actually reading my blog :) Whether you choose to leave comments or not, no matter - I truly appreciate you all stopping by!

☺ Thank-you from my bottom - that's what one of my Japanese friends once said, when he meant to say "Thank-you from the bottom of my heart." ☺

My first blog give-away:
To celebrate my 100th post, I'd like to offer one my readers this necklace, one of my favourites, a Sakura so Bright pendant on your choice of the coral pink leather seen here, black leather or silver tone ball chain.

All you have to do is have a peek in my Etsy shop, and leave a comment here on anything you particularly like, or think needs improving; a favourite piece, the photos, are there too many things/sections in my shop; etc. Please leave your email address so that I can contact you if you're the WINNER! One give-away entry per person please, but feel free to leave as many comments as you like ☺

The draw will take place on Tuesday April 29th, at 7pm, so get your comments in before then!

Friday Cat Blogging: Lucky Barney
Our friends, Mary and Rod, share a cat named Barney.

One cold winter a few years back, Mary and Rod's neighbour saw a big black cat in a park forest; the cat was very friendly and was probably lost, so as many of us would do, the man left him there thinking he would be found or picked up by his owners. When he returned to that same park the following winter, there was that same cat, friendly as ever, but a little worn and a little thinner.

Barney the cat went home with this man, an airline pilot, and quickly adapted to a warm, well-fed life with him. When the pilot would go to work for days at a time, Barney then discovered Mary and Rod across the road. He now lives a good life in both houses. While Mary and Rod are down south for the winter he lives with the airline pilot, and when Mary and Rod are home, Barney is usually with them. He is the sweetest cat you could meet. I think he's just happy to have two loving homes to hang out in.

Here he is, posing for us last summer, sprawled out in a favourite spot.

Friday Cat Blogging... Etsy Cat Lovers' Faves

As many of you know, I am a cat person. And I won't go on about Chibi or Ebi today.

There are so many great things on Etsy. Great things in general, yes, but it is a veritable treasure trove for cat lovers like me. I'll see how long I'm able to hold off on these items. You can click on any of the items to see them a little better.

The Clever Kitty T-shirt, that you'll find in Cathy's shop, along with her wonderful kitty artwork and bunch of other kitty tees.

These adorable maneki neko earrings, by finestimaginary. Now which colour is my favourite?


I know my cats would love this catnip mat , and there are so many to choose from in a shop called stuff .


GenObata makes these amazing sets of photo cards starring Lilly the cat in various vacation spots. They make me smile every time I look at them.

Felicia has a cat lovers' section in her Maid of Clay shop and if you click on her sold items you'll find a whole slew of kitties who have gone to deserving homes. The faces on these cats (and all her animal creations) crack me up; you'll find yourself clicking on certain ones and letting out an audible, "Awwwwwww!"


... And here's one live cat for this edition of Friday Cat Blogging. The taiko, or Japanese drums, we play in our group, Arashi Daiko, do sustain some damage from living in a climate that cycles between dry and damp (Japan is consistently humid year-long). One of our group's members, Manon, has been avidly learning about taiko making for the past couple of years, and has been graciously repairing our drums. Last week-end she took home an okedo that had cracked, likely from the dry heat in the storage room, and her cat Fripou was giving her a hand. He's especially handy with his nifty opposable thumbs. Go ahead andclick on the image :)

FA-VOUR-ITES!

Here are some of my latest Etsy faves...

I let out a definite squeal when I saw Felix. You'll find him, along with the Migraine Kid and Sing Fatboy Sing at TheShadowCat.

The Amnesia pendant, a collaborative work by Jennifer Mulcahy and Joanna of My Word. This is calling me...

I already see myself wearing this Branch Blossom tank this summer, by muttsywonder.


Flip Cat Mini Kitty Screenprint Pins by lookability. Perfect for my jean jacket...

Pig in the kitchen greeting card. You'll find lots of other Richard Scarry and Dr. Seuss images on cards at eggmoney's shop. Love all of 'em!

Now... let's see if any of these end up in my "Purchases" list... ☺

A brief synopsis of the past few days and YAY! Friday Cat Blogging

My computer crashed on Monday, which is why I haven't blogged in the past few days. My photos, my documents, all my business stuff, potentially gone in one poof.

Well, my husband worked diligently for the past three days and managed to recover and transfer everything (oh, my precious photos!) onto a new hard drive and external back up. Yay for super husbands who save computers! JF truly is the best.

Tuesday
Quickie update on my front tooth: Went to the dentist and it's not cracked (I hit hard it a couple of weeks ago with a big wooden stick - don't ask). No cavities, must floss more, happy with my free orange toothbrush and floss. I love freebies.

Wednesday
Gave a jewellery making demo and talk on starting a home-based business for a women's group on Montreal's south shore. Lots of fun and I even made some sales. I'll write about this more in another post, when I get some photos (someone was taking pics there).

Thursday
Took some photos of new pieces in my favourite light - sun masked by clouds so the light was warm but not glaring. I know I should make a lightbox so that I can take photos anytime, but I love the natural daylight.

Here are some examples of that lovely light :) These will be up in my Etsy shop shortly.

Friday Cat Blogging
This is an idea I got from another blogger, Joanna at http://mywordjewelry.blogspot.com/ As a cat lover, I tend to want to talk about my cats all the time - ALL THE TIME - so instead of babbling too much, I will try to restrain my thoughts and musings on my cats to one day, and jam it all in on Fridays.

Ebi and Chibi, as you may know, have been adjusting to each other since October, when Ebi came to join our household. They still avoid each other and occasionally slap each other, but it's getting better all the time.

With last week-end's snowfall, the winds had pushed a huge snowdrift onto our back balcony, right up agains the window. You can see it a couple of blog posts back. The temperature dropped the days after the storm, so the snow solidified. It was blocking the sun from the kitchen so Ebi had no sunny spot on the floor, and Chibi had no sun coming in on her ledge. There was no way to open the door with all the snow, so we opened the window on the door and JF shovelled some of the snow off; the snow had gotten so hard, he had cuts on his knuckles. Dug a litle burrow in the snow and wanted to see what the cats thought...

This last shot cracks me up. These are my kids.

Back from the post office...

I had to write again since I just got back from the post office. New guy working there, so quick and efficient! I like quick and efficient.

I usually take the smaller side streets to walk to the post office since it's quieter and there's not all the traffic of the noisy avenue nearby. Of course, none of the small streets had been cleared, so it was easier to walk on the road. Lots of people left their cars at home and opted for public transportation ,which is a very good system here in Montreal. Easy to get everywhere.

Walking back home I took the larger street, which is usually a four-lane traffic laden avenue. It was down to two lanes and traffic was crawling. The sidewalks were still piled with mounds of snow but it least it was packed down from so many people walking on it. I felt a bit like a mountain goat, stepping on the narrow winding path on the little hills of snow.

The poor car below is about to be towed since the streets are going to be plowed and the owner didn't bother to move it... There are warning trucks that drive around with this annoying high pitched automated horn reminding people to move their vehicles, but someone always forgets.

It really is pretty out there though.

The bunny necklace I just showed you here before leaving is now sold, yay! It will be travelling all the way to Australia ☺ Oh yeah, and it's the last day of my Buy One Get One at 50% off in my Etsy shop!

Coffee's ready. I'm ready for my coffee.

SALE... and it's Spring Forward this week-end!

I've got a full day tomorrow, er, today , so I thought I'd post this now before heading off to bed.

I'll be having a sale this week-end in my Etsy shop! I've decided to call it the Spring Forward sale, to remind people to move their clocks forward to Daylight Savings Time.

From Saturday March 8th to Monday March 10th:
Shop my SPRING FORWARD SALE at http://www.tatsuko.etsy.com/ !

Buy One Get One at 50% off!
How simple is that?

* Reduction applied to lower priced item; discount does not apply to shipping fees.
* If paying by PayPal or credit card, please wait for a revised invoice, or you may go ahead and make your payment and I will simply refund you your savings :)

And for anyone reading my blog - that's you! - get a one-day headstart shopping!
Purchase anything today, Friday, March 7th (from midnight EST) and this sale will be applied ☺

Have a look at some of the new designs that you'll find in my shop!

Head on over to http://www.tatsuko.etsy.com/ and have a peek :) Thanks for looking!

A nice start to the day ☺

It's sunny and cold today, around minus 20. But the snow has stopped - for now. This is my ideal winter weather ... but I probably won't even venture out if I don't have to :)

A woman named Nancy contacted me through Etsy a couple days ago and said she wanted to visit my store. And since I don't have one we made arrangements for her to come over here and see what I make and where I make it (my packed-full-of-stuff home studio). She was interested in my bracelets because she said she has small wrists and has a hard time finding bracelets that will fit her and not slide off or rattle and jangle around.

Nancy came over this morning at 8am before going to work and indeed, she does have very small wrists; said she was happy to find something that actually fits her and that the pretty part of the bracelet stays visible on top - which is exactly why I designed them that way ☺

She bought two bracelets, one of which was a smaller version of this one below. I've got others in my Etsy shop too :) I thought it was so nice of her to make an early morning detour just to see my stuff; even after selling for almost 7 years now, it still amazes me that I make things that people like enough to buy. That people will go out of their way to come and see me and that they will spend their hard-earned money on something I made - isn't that crazy? I mean crazy in a good way...

I've been working on a new design of pendant which I'm really excited about and will take photos of and list today. Talk about that tomorrow!

Onto business...

Ok, so I got that out of the way. Now onto my good day.

Listed some pendants yesterday in my Etsy shop, with my new Greek leather cord. I've been wanting to try Greek leather for so long since I heard that the quality is consistently top notch. Key word, consistent. I got some leather in colours, to play with, and I love the way it looks with my pendants! Really complimentary. Kinda hard to see the colour in the first one, the leather cord is olive green.

I got some paler colours too, that I'm not yahoo crazy about but will try them with some other pendants and see how they look.

Finally went shopping last week for a new agenda (organizer). I've been using the one that my brother Ron got me for Christmas around 15 years ago; it was used to death, the zipper on the wallet section died around 8 years ago because I stuffed it with too much, well, stuff. I covered the outside with cow patterned shelf liner since I couldn't have just plain black. 'Course not!

I went to Bureau en gros, which is what they call Staples here in Québec, and headed straight for the sale section, where they had lots of old stock agendas. I'm always so happy when I find a good bargain. So this all-leather agenda with wallet section and lots of compartments and space for notepads, that was originally $69.99, was marked down to $49.97 and then 75% off that - I got it for $12.49! Zipped home, to transfer everything over to its new home and then added a bit of zing to plain brown leather (nice tho it was), with this sticky-backed cloth. Very happy with this. Here's the front:

And the back:

To work I go!

Gung hei fa choi! And Etsy rat finds...

Happy New Year!

It’s the start of the New Year today according to the Chinese calendar, which follows the lunar cycle. It is the year of the rat, said to be a year of hard work and good for new starts - maybe start a new job or create a new product for your online shop (the wheels are turning); being well prepared and patient will bring rewards later on.

Here's a cutie, a perfect example of the enterprising, sociable and hard-working rat that you are, if you were born in 1924, 1936, 1048, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, or are freshly born this year ☺You are also said to be very intelligent, affectionate and family-oriented if you are a rat.

There are some great rat items on Etsy, if you would like to celebrate your year, or get a gift for the rat in your life.

This adorable card is by Etsy seller, kissui.

A gorgeous woodblock print by CuriouslyDrawn (rat is sitting on mochi - gotta love it!)

This cool magnet by mokajadedesigns

Or how about a pendant by etherealgirls, to show your rat love around your neck?

I've got a couple of ratty items in my shop too, you can have a look around if you like...

Lastly I just thought this guy was neat; found him here, on a Japanese textiles website. I love his vest, also patterned in rats!

Happy New Year everyone!