New in the shop!

Mission accomplished! I finally listed a couple of new pieces in my Etsy shop yesterday. Sure took me long enough.

These new necklaces are a little dressier than my regular chiyogami pendants; the added dangle and sterling chain add a little movement and sparkle, dontcha think?

I'll be making more of those this week!

Having a little bit of hard time with scattered energy this fall... I so enjoyed that glass lampworking class a couple week-ends ago that I had a hard time getting back to my production for the coming months (I'm easily side-tracked, and as many of you know, the QUEEN of Procrastination). Oy.

My lampworking intensive scheduled for this coming week-end has been postponed, so I'll probably do it in the new year since they're supposed to have two choices of dates. I was so disappointed when I got news of the cancellation yesterday, but I got to the bright side right away, in that I would not be distracted yet again from my work at hand, which is definitely more important.

Here's my finished ring that I worked on in the intro to jewellery making class. Most people opted for a highly polished look with the heavy duty polishing weel, but I used steel wool to finish mine, which gives it a kind of dull, matte finish. Pretty clunky, but I like it.

Off to heat up some soup and I'll then get back to work.

Friday cat blogging... and a YART reminder!

I've missed a few Fridays now, and so my cats need some coverage; they've been ignored - on my blog, not in real life of course!

I discovered last week when I ate some corn on the cob that Chibi loves it. It must be the salt and butter, but she was really wrestling me for that cob. Didn't know just how strong she was! Please click on the collage below to see all her crazed expressions (^_^)

These are few shots of her trying to pull the cob out of my hand; some of them really crack me up since you can see how hard she's biting and/or pulling. And apparently Chibi is not alone - other cats like it too!

To business... My YART SALE (that's Art + Yard sale, please see yesterday's post) runs through until midnight EST Sunday June 14th. Anything and everything in my shop will ship for FREE WORLDWIDE, plus blog readers (that's you) will get 20% off their purchase. Even items in my sale section that are already reduced by 30% will be discounted an additional 20%.

Sakura So Bright earrings...

Happy Doxie chasing Bunnies card...

Mitsuko chiyogami necklace and earrings set...

Great savings! Come and have a peek at http://www.tatsuko.etsy.com/. Have a great week-end everyone, bonne fin de semaine!

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!

It's Friday....

Yes, it's Friday!

Here in Canada it's a long week-end too, not that the self-employed really end up taking days off! Anyway it's Victoria Day on Monday in the rest of Canada, or la fête de Dollard (des Ormeaux) here in la belle province.

It'll be busy, with taiko performances both tomorrow and Sunday; hope the weather is nice on Sunday since we're supposed to play outside. Tomorrow should be interesting too - I'll blog about it next week.

Finally got around to taking some new photos and listed a few things in my Etsy shop. Not sure about the white background though. What do you think?

Denim Dahlias chiyogami earrings

California roll sushi charm

Floating Sakura chiyogami pendant

Friday Cat Blogging:
And it IS Friday, so it's gotta be a little about the cats, right? As you may know, our cats, Chibi and Ebi have not gotten along since... well, forever. It IS much better now than it was at first. I got really excited last week when this happened.

Ebi (black cat) now sits in the window in my workspace, a spot that used to be only Chibi's. She doesn't seem to mind too much, and for some reason this time, I don't think she saw him already sitting up there (don't know how you can miss him!), and jumped up... Neither of them freaked out which was good, no slapping at each other like they usually do, but I grabbed the camera just in time to see Chibi turning around to escape. This was as physically close as they've ever been!

There's hope yet.

Featured in an online magazine...

Hey look, one of my pendants and one of my cards is in the May issue of VivaLaModa Handmade online magazine! Here I am on this page, and on this page too!

I've got them up in my Etsy shop too. Here's the Pensive Bunny...


And the Positivity or Happy Thoughts card...

Making, making...

Hard at work the last few days, getting some new stock ready for Ladyfest's Tarts 'n Crafts in Ottawa next week-end. I recently rearranged my workspace with JF's help and it feels great to actually look forward to go to work in there every day. It's already back to its usual cluttered state, but I know now I'm just not cut out to be neat. As long as I know where everything is and it feels good to work in, then I'm ok.

Here's some of the chiyogami pendants and earrings I was working on yesterday. The paper is cut and then laid on a layer of polymer clay; now they are waiting to be put on their second layer/base clay, which will also be hand-cut. Thank-goodness for my trusty pasta-roller! I'm also testing some glue-on bails, using different adhesives to see which one sticks the best. I'll post some photos of the finished product when they're done.

This is a prototype of a bead I've been fiddling around with for awhile, with varying versions. Other ideas are a-brewing!

Procrastinating.... and oh yeah, a 20% OFF SALE!

Ouf... I am slow to get with it these days. Even though it should be a whirlwind of a production time. Today is going to be a good day though, since I know I have a rehearsal from 5 to 11pm - psychologically when I know I have limited time, I get more done. Go figure. Five members of our group Arashi Daiko will be playing taiko (Jpnz drums) with a bunch of other amazing world musicians at this show on Saturday in Quebec City. So excited!

Been procrastinating with making stuff, cleaning up my studio, rearranging my tools and materials. Yikes. I said it before, I'll say it again - I am the QUEEN of Procrastination (capital P).
Because of my wandering and oft leaky brain, I totally forgot last Saturday that I had reserved a showcase spot on Etsy, to advertise my little shop. Totally missed it - didn't even select the featured items that would appear in the showcase pop-up. Grey matter, fail me not again!

Well I remembered that I've got a showcase spot today (yay!) and yesterday I took photos of some new chiyogami pieces, as well as other items, and got some posted in my shop last night.

... AND, I'm having a sale: 20% off everything in my shop, even the items already reduced in my sale section! Woo hooooo!

Clicking on any of the items pictured here will take you directly to its link in my shop!

Sale details:
* Regular shipping fees apply. Please make your purchase and I will send you a revised invoice with the applied discount. Or if you prefer, please go ahead and pay, and I will simply refund you your discount.

* Please note that I will be away from my computer today from 4:30pm until midnight, and I will make the revised invoices and process any refunds as soon as I get home. Thank-you!

Since I'm kinda late doing this blog post too (like, a couple of weeks late, haha), I think I will extend this sale for my blog readers for tomorrow as well! Just mention my blog in the note to seller at check-out (^_^).

Autumn leaves...

I went to see my osteopath yesterday, who made some adjustments in my usual trouble spots; often when I have pain somewhere that I have always thought was a muscular problem (I get terrible hardened spots in my forearms and shoulders since I work with my hands and am hunched over my work table for long periods of time; I'm sure playing taiko also contributes a little) it's actually structural, and a bone has moved or slipped slightly out of position. The muscles then get all wonky since they too are pushed out of position, soreness ensues and well, you get the picture.

Anyway, I ended up walking home, about an hour's walk, since the weather was nice and I didn't do any yoga this week since my back has been bugging me. I made a decision while walking: that I will bring back my collages for my craft shows this season (and I'm writing it here in my blog so I don't try to weasel out of it). A few years ago I started using leaves in combo with Japanese paper, needle and thread to make these little framed pictures. (for some reason, the picture uploads on its side all the time, and I can't flip it once uploaded -strange!)

These would do well at craft shows, but were not terribly cost-effective for the time they take to make and the price of the frames. I have a whole slew of frames that I would keep buying every time I'd see nice ones while out shopping, and yesterday's walk saw me harvesting more leaves for my collection (I've got 4 old telephone books full of them!). So I'm all set - I'll at least use up the frames I've got in stock. Now the only problem is finding room for them at the shows I'll be doing, since my table is usually pretty full with jewellery and cards...

Here's a new pendant I just listed in my Etsy shop yesterday - fitting for fall, wouldn't you say?

This past summer I did a festival in Vancouver, BC, and my sister, Nancy, was also selling there - we had neighbouring tables, so it was a lot of fun. Along with her beautiful pearl jewellery, she makes these ridiculously cute baby slippers using Japanese material. Fittingly, since her birthday is in October, her Japanese name is Akiko, which means autumn baby, and here are some of her autumn-ish slippers. Love 'em!

Time to be productive

Yesterday was a quiet day. Did some supply orders, which always takes me forever since I love looking at supplies (even packaging supplies) and I always end up ordering more stuff than I intended to buy. It IS stuff I need, I just didn't know I needed it before I saw it ;)

JF, my husband, made a birthday veggie couscous, which was delish! He also made bread without the breadmaker (we have a breadmaker that we use around once a week) which is very tasty, but dense. For some reason it didn't rise as it was supposed to, and JF said we should save it as a weapon against intruders (if we ever had intruders). Did I mention it was dense? As we speak, JF is slicing it up and is going to bake them and try and make crisps or melba toast with them.

Today is going to be a production day. I have stock to replenish for two upcoming shows: a small fundraising craft show where part of the proceeds are going to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada (JF was diagnosed with colitis two years ago) and a crafters' market in May, which will be in Ottawa, Ontario. Looking forward to these two events!

I never know what's going to go well at any given show, so I'll be making more of these:

Chiyogami earrings:


And pendants:


And pendants with beads and stones:


Off to work I go.

Some new pendants...

I got some new paper from Japan last month and finally got around to making some new pendants with it! I was sooo excited - I mean jumping-up-and-down-excited - with my new batch of paper and I think the pendants turned out quite nicely. Some will go on simple ball chains and others will be combined with stones and beads into chokers. I think I'll have to keep one for myself :) Gotta get back to work now; making some new cards for this week-end too!