I hope my parents are watching...

I was contacted yesterday by the publishers of 1000 Handmade Greeting Cards (Quarry Books), who let me know that three of my card designs have been selected for their publication! Can you believe it? Here are the ones they chose (*please click on them for detail - finally figured that out!):

One in my Happy Doxie series

My origami crane decoration/card combo

My Splashing Koi

I submitted some cards back in January and mentioned it here in my blog, but figured since I hadn't heard back then I hadn't been chosen. I was totally shocked yesterday since I thought the deadline was long passed. Nice shock. Lots of other Etsy card-makers will also be published ☺

Last year some of my pieces were selected for another book in this series, 1000 Jewelry Inspirations, set to come out in June (also chock-full of Etsy jewellery makers).

It's actually available for preorder now on http://www.amazon.ca/, and I guess http://www.amazon.com/ too! I guess this book will come out some time next year - can't wait to see it.

Mom, Dad... can you see me? ☺

So I'm "IT" ...

I've been tagged by fellow Canadian Etsy seller, piggy-tails, who makes the cheeriest cards ever - love her stuff! Here's her shop and her blog ☺

So I'm supposed to share 7 weird or random facts about myself; just so you know, it was hard to just choose 7.

1 - I don’t know how to drive and don’t have a license. Yes, it’s possible to live this way in Montreal, since our public transportation system is great.

2 - I am missing an enzyme in my blood that helps to digest alcohol, which apparently many Asians are also lacking; this means I turn a crazy shade of red if I drink and I get short of breath. Although this didn’t stop me from drinking when I was in college and university, I just don’t bother drinking anymore.

3 - When I was little I had a short-lived collection of cooked fish eyeballs. You probably don’t know this, but once a fish is cooked, the eye’s centre is a hard little transluscent ball. Don’t ask me why I even started this, but I would pluck out the eyes, and scrape off the white outer coating to get to the sort of transluscent white centre, which I thought would make a nice necklace. When I was 8. And NO, there’s nothing like that in my Etsy shop.

4 - I snore. Not so weird, but annoying for my poor husband. My friend who would sleep over in high school, would take out a pile of my socks before we went to sleep , so that she could ball them up and throw them at me during the night in a futile attempt to silence the beast.

5 - I cried both times I saw Paul Simon live in concert and the one time I saw James Taylor. Not just tearing up, I mean “whaaaaa” snively, sobby, ugly crying. I just got tickets yesterday to see James Taylor this summer and I’m gearing up for another cry.

6 - I’m a bag hoarder – plastic, paper whatever, to be reused. Not so odd, but even in the spirit of recycling, there are some bags that I’ve deemed “too nice” to re-use, so I have BAGS of bags that I save and never use...

7 - I have a pretty bad caterpillar phobia – our trees would get infested with these awful webby nests, light brown but dark at the bottom since they were heavy with disgusting clumps of tent caterpillars. I will still wear a hat all summer long if it’s a bad caterpillar year, and I will NOT sit under a tree if there’s any risk of one falling on me (shade, schmade!) . I will squint if I see one at a distance so I don’t have to see it clearly. When I was in my early twenties, a caterpillar fell onto my shoulder in the Dairy Queen parking lot, I sprang up, screaming “Get it off, get if off!” but of course I couldn’t stop running like a maniac for my friend to remove it. And I dropped my ice-cream cone. The thing with tent caterpillars is you know there’s never just one – they’re part of a huge collective, like the Borg or something. (I wanted to be brave and post a pic here, but had to squint after googling it for fear of having to see a photo; just google "tent caterpillar", if you must see them.)


This was taken in around 1975, I think. I was around this age when I was doing the fish eyeball thing and the caterpillar phobia started...

Now I have to go off and tag a bunch of other people! Here we go:

CJ's Woodland Shed: http://cjswoodlandshed.blogspot.com/

Cyndie Smith Designs: http://cyndiesmithdesigns.blogspot.com/

By the airport: http://bytheairport.blogspot.com/

The Broken Plate: http://craftherapy.blogspot.com/

Fabriquer: http://fabriquer.blogspot.com/

Diva Dea: http://divadea.blogspot.com/

Jewel Street Designs: http://jewelstreetdesigns.blogspot.com/

Arashi Daiko, my drumming family... (and I got tickets to see James Taylor!!!)

I'm trying to catch my breath. Woke up to the radio annoucing that James Taylor would be coming to Montreal as part of the International Jazz Festival this summer and that tickets would be on sale this morning at 10!!! Already scouted the tickets I want. This will be my birthday present from JF ☺ James Taylor was here around 10 years ago and my sister and I went to see the show; he puts on a great show - likes to chat and is sooo good at it. I cried when he sang "Up on the Roof" because that's just the kind of gal I am. Can't wait until July 6th!

These are the folks I spend much of my time with when I'm not in my workshop. We are Arashi Daiko, a Japanese drumming ensemble, and this past Saturday was our first practice this year with all members present (some were travelling). Had a really good practice, everyone was pretty zonked at the end, or at least I was. I'm on the right, second from the back. JF is also on the right, second from the front. You can click on it to see it a little better.


Pretty goofy picture since we were waiting for the camera timer to take the durn picture.

At the beginning of each practice we sit facing each other like this with our drumsticks, or bachi, lined up, to officially open the practice and leave our outside lives behind and focus our energy on our taiko. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

We end each practice in this position as well, to close the practice session and be thankful for the opportunity to drum. Domo arigato gozaimashita!

(STOPPED BLOGGING FOR A TICKET BUYING BREAK: All set, got our tickets for the James Taylor show, yay! Pretty good seats, although we could've gotten better seats if I hadn't been such a weiner, checking to see other sections of the arena... I'm happy though!)

Now where was I...

This is Calvin, Hisako's son (she's right in front on the right side in the above pic), who could not keep his eyes open after practice. He's got towels around his ears held on by his trusty beaver hat (this is Canada, whaddya expect?) because of the loudness of the taiko. He even sleeps through our playing just like his older sister Kira did!

A couple weeks ago I hit my front tooth while playing; it was these bachi below that made me think I had knocked my tooth loose (turns out all is fine - amazing how hard our teeth are!). The stains on the bottom are actually my blood (we often get blisters or raw patches on our hands which eventually harden and callus over), which I chose to leave on to remind me to play hard. Yes, taiko players are a strange lot who like to suffer.

We have a full roster of performances coming up this summer, and some already on our calendar for spring; you can see that here: http://www.arashidaiko.org/calendar/calendar.htm

Ok, I'm heading to my workshop now, to work on some fresh sushi and other new pieces.

I'll be doing a small show in a month's time, so I've got to get some inventory going for that too...

Tomorrow... I've been tagged, so I'll be tagging others!

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.

More snow... and a smidge of ice

I know you've probably heard enough about the weather this week-end, but then maybe not, if you're in a part of the world that has little or no snow. Here was the situation on Saturday afternoon, when I got home from taiko practice. Just heavy snow and a bit of wind.

We've been dumped on many times this winter. Here in Montreal, it's been cycle after cycle of mild weather (just below freezing) bringing lots of snow, then a very cold snap of a few days, then unseasonably warm weather that melts all the snow really fast - lots of sludgy, messy slush.
This was a bit later in the afternoon; kind of hard to see, but the winds were picking up and the snow was turning a little icy...


With the howling wind and the sound of ice pellets, we kept peeking outside marvelling that there was no one out there... except for this brave soul trying to get home at a trot...

I think we must have gotten around a foot and a half of snow and ice, but with the crazy wind, it really piled up. This was our back door on Saturday night, snow piled right up to nose level. I'm only 5'2" though, so maybe this is chest level for most of you.

Sunday morning, a clear lovely day. Doesn't look so bad, quite pretty wouldn't you say? This is the view from my studio/workshop - we didn't even step foot outside the door!


And here's Chibi waiting for her breakfast on her ledge attached to the back door. We couldn't see a thing out that window!

Needless to say, everything is moving a little slowly on the roads today, Monday.

I had a good week-end in sales, with my special "Spring Forward" offer, so I've got lots to take to the post office. I'll see how long it takes me to walk there today, since I don't think the sidewalks have been cleaned at all!

My new designs that I posted here on Friday, Pouncing Neko and the Sakura Swing earrings both sold, so I now have this one up in my shop.

Gotta make more of these and more sushi platters since I'm running low... Will have my coffee when I get back from the post office!

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!