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!

A bit of everything...

Just received some flyers in the mail for an upcoming show - you can see one of my necklaces on the cover, second from the bottom, yay! This show is at a private high school here in Montreal; I did it for the first time last year and it was a really good one for me, so I'm really looking forward to it again this year. I had a few great trades with other sellers too, which is always fun!


Lots of new pieces being created in my wee little studio... This one is up in my shop:

It's October 29th, and we woke up to a dusting of snow this morning. Aaack!
I remember many times as a kid, having to wear my ski jacket under my Halloween costume... it's supposed to be much warmer this Friday though, for the trick or treaters :)

To warm ourselves up, a fall favourite: butternut squash soup, well, more of a potage. Turned out yummy, although I went a little heavy on the pepper.

Just had to have this... and this... and this too

Business has been going pretty well since the beginning of the year, so I've been spoiling myself. I think I'm pretty reasonable since I rarely buy clothes anymore - working from home I get to be in jeans and t-shirts all the time, yay! I do like fun tees though, so it's my main clothing indulgence now.

This t-shirt is so soft and comfy, and I’ll be able to wear it in the spring too, since it's nice and thin. It’s by Mary at maryink.

The superbirds make me smile. You can scroll down a bit to see me wearing this shirt with my new necklace.

And even if I'm in jeans I always wear jewellery, so there's always jewellery in my favourites list. I love bracelets even though I usually make my own since I'm pretty fussy. Very happy with the two I recently bought:

Bright and lively “Reef” from Tracy of polishedtwo
And the earthy and feel-good “Forest Floor” from sandcastlejewels.
I like my bracelets on the close-fitting side, so I removed two stones and spacers and was able to make earrings with them ☺ Here I am trying to look natural in an obviously unnatural pose.

And my very favourite, this Ohm necklace by Cheryl at chendric. As soon as I saw this piece, I could so totally see myself wearing it. Now I AM wearing it (at this very moment, yes!). I know material things can only bring you fleeting happiness in the grand scheme of things, but oh, what joy, such joy from a lovely bauble around my neck ...

Tomorrow will be some of my most recent Etsy favourites... yet to be purchased ;)

Custom work...

I've been working on a custom order of pendants for four little girls - two pairs of sisters - whose families will be separated for a couple of years due to a job transfer. The moms are best friends, the dads are best friends, their four daughters are best friends. Needless to say, this is going to be tough on both families.

To make the separation a little easier on the girls (ages 3 to 5), one of the moms asked me to design a necklace to express the powerful bond the girls share. I immediately had a bird in mind as part of this project, to act as a messenger between the girls. My birdies turned out exactly as I had pictured them in my little brain. Colours are hand-mixed Kato polymer clay, in pearly pastels.

The rest came together pretty organically. Four amazing little girls, four lovely hearts for the top part of the pendant. Turquoise symbolizes communication, so I added a small turquoise stone dangle from the birdie's underside to keep communication open and thus, the friendship ever-growing.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. The moms seem to like them; I hope the girls will too. Children are the scariest customers since they cannot or will not lie. We will see...