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!

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 (^_^).

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!

Upcoming...

I redid some of my photos yesterday, using the white balance adjustment. What a difference. Embarrassing I didn't do this sooner! This is the exact same pendant and the exact same background paper. The one on the left looks fine if you don't know that the background is supposed to be the vibrant mossy green that you see on the right. The pendant colours look warmer too and just a little more bright.

I decided to put some items on sale in my Etsy shop, to keep my stock rolling. These items are marked down by 20%! I'll be having a Mother's Day sale starting this week-end too, as well as a give-away for my blog readers!

Lots happening this week, and the coffee tastes particularly good this morning...

****************************************************************

Thanks to everyone who wrote to me or commented on my Friday post, regarding my mom. I hope that wasn't too "out there" and uncomfortable to read; it might have been a rather selfish thing to do, since it was kind of like a mini-therapy to get it out of my system, but I really do feel different.

My heartfelt appreciation to you all ☺

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!

Photos and a LEAP DAY SALE!

I was up early every day this week and my sister has to come over on my sleep in 'til 8:30 day to pick up a package my aunt dropped off for her and her daughters last week. Sigh. Oh well, coffee will be ready soon and I've got lots to do, so it's no biggie :) And what did I say when I gave her the bag from my aunt? "Don't forget to call Auntie Jeanne this week-end, and thank her." I sound like my mother. Audible sigh.Where's my coffee?

Much of yesterday was spent photographing and then editting photos of new pieces to list. I have a spot in one of the showcases on Etsy, which I haven't done in awhile and I wanted to see if any sales are generated by this advertising.

So I'm having a BOGO 50% off sale in my shop today, until midnight (in Samoa of course, that's 6am tomorrow for ESTers)!!!

I'm pretty happy with my photos from yesterday in general. I'm always amazed at how different lighting totally changes the colour of a backdrop while the actual piece being photographed remains essentially the same. I guess it has to do with how much light is reflected by the colour backdrop being used, or something (can you tell I have no idea what I'm talking about?)... These first two pics are the same piece on the same background, one in regular bright daylight, the other in direct sunlight.

I love those little goldfish! Gotta make myself a pair.

My new pendant design will have to wait since I have to figure out a way to attach a bail onto them. Long story...

Meow: I had to get in a couple of photos of Ebi. Poor Chibi has been all but ignored lately, camera-wise anyway, as I've been snapping pics of Ebi whenever he does something remotely cute.

Although I don't think he's as brilliant as my mom proclaimed him to be, he is funny. He drags his favourite toy around when he wants attention - this long wire with little rolled up paper danglies on one end - doesn't sound too appealing, certainly doesn't look great, but he loves it. You can tell he's coming with that thing in his mouth because the wire drags on the ground. I thought he hated me when he first came to live here in October, but we've warmed up to each other - he's more relaxed and has found his place, and I'm not trying so hard. Having two cats is good.


I'll be going now, will be working on a couple of custom orders today ☺ Have a good day everyone!

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!

Back from the wild wild west...

I'm back home from my working holiday, and it was great. Got to see my two brothers and their families in British Columbia; my sister who lives in Alberta (the province just east of BC) totally shocked me by showing up with her gang! So nice to be with my family.

Embarassingly enough with my family as witness, this was the most badly organized I have ever been for any craft sales event, and I realize now it was my own fear that made me procrastinate so ridiculously. And although it was shameful to be so ill-prepared with them all watching, thank goodness I had so many helpers at my disposal! I had people gluing and glazing and cutting and punching holes and making knots. I wouldn't blame them if they combined forces to be my main competitor at a future craft show.

Surprisingly, my poor organization was rewarded with surpassed expectations in sales, contacts and positive feedback. Vancouver's Powell Street Festival is the largest Japanese Canadian festival in Canada, and I was absoultely amazed at the number of people who attended. And the food - the food was soooo good! I think it's the super-fresh salmon that really did it for me; I ate sockeye every chance I had! No salmon photos, but here's one of the takoyaki stand; takoyaki is a popular snack at Japanese festivals, or matsuri: little dough balls with chunks of octopus inside - delish! This was particularly impressive for numbers of takoyaki they were churning out!

Here is the omikoshi - a portable shrine that is hoisted above the shoulders of gutsy festival goers, who are encouraged and yelled at to keep going by the crowd and by the people standing on the shrine, making it even heavier...

We were kept pretty busy at my table, in a high-traffic area with lots of shoppers. Can you see me back there at my table ?

Here I am! I think I went to washroom once on the first day. My display was a little flat with everything laid out on one level on the table. I couldn't bring my display stands with me in my luggage, so I had to make do. Turned out alright though, and sales were great ☺

And here I am with my ichiban and most patient craft assistant, Jean-François.

I'll stop here and pick up again where I left off. From Vancouver, we went onto Nanaimo and then to Seattle....

My spring sale is done but my work never is

I said I'd be a good blogger and post regularly, but it's been a week since my last post... giving myself a little kick in the rear end to get back on the wagon!

Well, I guess I have a bit of an excuse. My "Sprint into Spring Sale" in my online store went really well - thanks to everyone who purchased during the sale (^_^) ! Mostly sales from my distribution list, but some new customers as well. I'm still always amazed when people like my stuff, and then like it enough to want to buy it. I should get over this.

I'll show you some of what I sold. These are things that I particularly like - I am thrilled they have gone to people who will truly enjoy them:

My "Spring Sakura" choker:

My "Eriko" choker:

A few sushi platters:

"Green Lantern" earrings:

This "Fluttering" choker went all the way to Japan!

What I call "Your Most Comfy Bracelet" went to a Montrealer who has six ferrets!

I had never met a ferret before and they were a riot! Lovely animals they are, so sleek and flexible. When I got home my little cat looked like a chunky clumsy creature with an excessively large head. Just for the record, she is not.

I was so happy with these pink rhodonite "Perfectly Lovely" earrings, I had to make myself a pair too (wearing them right now). Sold lots of cards too, but won't post them all here.

Of course my time was not totally monopolized by this sale, but when I am "into it" or on a creative roll, so to speak, I'm in my studio all the time. Aaaalllllll the time. Ask my husband. I guess other artisans, artists, crafters, people with a home-based business face this same problem - work time versus time spent with spouse and family.

My day is not consistently productive, so I will often work in the evenings as well, time that I used to spend with my husband. I know my day would be more balanced if I was able to keep a regular 9 to 6 workday, but it's next to impossible when you work from home. If I feel like cleaning in the morning I will do it, partly since that urge rarely hits me so I'd better go with it, and partly because I know I can work at night... And I love what I do! Sometimes I just want to make something - don't feel like going out, or watching a movie, just want to make some pendants or work with my beautiful paper or get my hands on my beads...

My husband is truly the best; he does not complain, is always constructive in his comments, often makes supper when he gets home from work (while I'm still working), and makes really good yogurt (he loooooves his yogurt maker). But I know I would be annoyed if he were bringing work home every night and ignoring me...

We're lucky that we play taiko (Japanese drums) in the same group, so that we get some time together!

More soon, I swear.

Sprint into Spring...

I spend a lot of time on this computer - I mean A LOT.

I tell myself it's for my work, which is usually true, but I kinda think I could actually be making stuff, being productive. But this IS productive, right? I'm telling everyone about what I create and why I do it... and

... HEY, I'M HAVING A SALE in my Etsy shop, where you can see all the details! Click on the image below to see what I've been working on lately :)


And there are so many great things you can get on Etsy. Waaaaay too many good things...

Aftermath of a craft show

Ok, so maybe the word aftermath is a bit melodramatic.

But aaahhhhh... a day to relax a little. Slept in - well, I guess it was more like catching up for the sleep I missed this past week-end. It doesn't seem to matter how prepared I am leading up to a craft show, the night before I always find stuff that I forgot and I end up sleeping for an hour, if that. This time was good, I slept for an hour and a HALF.

I got the spot I asked for at the show, right in the entrance to the library. Good traffic, nice and bright. Oh yeah, and I also happened to be across from the biscotti makers who had samples for tasting - mmmmm, samples. My husband had to work this week-end so I was on my own for two whole days; not much chance to browse around which was good so I didn't spend much.

Sales were good on Saturday, and not so good on Sunday, so the week-end evened out to an "OK". Got lots of positive feedback which is always nice. People can be very generous.

I managed to take pictures of some of my stuff, but for some reason, not of my whole display. This is what my cards looked like:

I was psyched and prepared for Mother's Day card and gift shoppers, but there were not many of those (too early?). Many people were treating themselves to a little gift or two though, which is great, right?

I made some sets of chokers and earrings since I've requests for those; was thrilled when this Pink & Red Sakura set sold since I think it came together really well. I'll have to make another one like it!

Was a little surpised my Michi pendant set didn't sell - I was tempted to keep it when I made it last week. Maybe it's a sign...

I did sell quite a few chokers with these chiyogami pendants though (yay!). I love putting them together, picking the stones, blending colours, shapes and textures. And I got really good feedback on them and my bracelets, which also sold well. My new earrings did well too. I was pleasantly surprised.

These are some of the collages I've been making for a few years now that I also displayed this week-end.
This post will end abruptly, since I now realize I have to take some photos before the natural daylight is completely shot. The added white of the 20cm of snow makes for good bright light. Until next time...

Not too stressed... surprisingly

Well, preparations for the craft show continue. And not as stressed as I usually am. Hmm, something must be wrong. There's always tomorrow, plenty of time to stress out.

Made some new cards and listed a few on Etsy. I've had cat cards among my designs for a few years and dog lovers have been asking when I would start making dog cards; well, here is my first! This happy little guy sold a few minutes after I posted him on Etsy :)

The little figure on the card below is called a jizo. In Japan, a jizo is most well-known as a guardian of children, and also a protector of women and travellers. Jizo may comfort anyone dealing with sadness or the loss of someone dear; you often see these little statues placed at children's graves. My husband gave me a little jizo statue when my mom passed away, which is the inspiration for this card :)

This Happy Thoughts/Positivity card makes me smile - corny but true. I think it's because it was created when I was coming out of a rather dark patch. Finally able to feel a bit of peace, and that's what this card expresses...
Made a few origami cranes, or orizuru, and I like the way they look all lined up waiting to be packaged. Tomorrow will be for packaging, labelling, pricing and sign-making.

Gotta get back to it now...