Year of the Snake

Words.
I am experiencing a drought of words.

Or, perhaps, it is not for lack of words to string together.
Perhaps it is just that I have yet to successfully saddle and mount time. There is a bridle in place but my hands are caught and twisted in the reins. I'm being dragged around by a beastly stallion and I don't even have the sense to complain.
Is it a poor excuse? Perhaps.

It has almost been one year since I left teaching full-time. I never knew before how very short a year could be.

It has been two years since the disaster in Northern Japan. Two years since a tsunami washed away thousands of lives and my misconceptions of what I wanted in life.

I haven't been writing here because I have been busy elsewhere but without any tangible results to share. I know that this space is more of a process bulletin board but for my own idea of this online record of events, I would like to try and reach my own bizarre standards. Unfortunately, this means that I try to write here when the computer is free (unusual) and when my mind is clear (unlikely). Essentially impossible conditions in a small apartment crowded with littles.

The first post after an extended break is always the hardest. What do I tell and how much of it should I share?

Maybe if I break it into bite-sized bullet points then it will be simpler:

-Nico is graduating from kindergarten on Friday.
-Nico is starting elementary school in April.
-Sebastian will be a fourth grader.
-From April, I will teach part-time, Jason will teach part-time.
-I started a resin jewelry Etsy shop.
-We don't know how everything will work out.
-We don't know where we will end up. Everywhere is lovely and awful. We can no longer search outside of ourselves for utopia.
- I've been obsessed with this idea of Huxley's: "Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.”
-I cried watching this movie.
-Luca is a full-fledged walker who loves rice and vegetables. He also weighs almost 29 pounds.
-I am not reaching my writing quota. Getting the shop running has taken over all spare minutes. And there were not so many to begin with so I had to make some up. Like the minutes that fall after midnight.
-Jason bought a suit today and was highly disgruntled about it.
-The cherry blossoms will bloom soon. Again.

So, maybe that is good for now. I'll do my best to post at least twice a week from here on. For my own crazy standards, not for you, patient reader. I know that if you are reading this now, you're ready to wait me out.

xoxo

Rock, scissors...

(Gu Choki Pa candy- ramune flavor)

In the next few weeks, we will be able to announce which direction our little family is headed in the river of life. Until then, I can say that I will be resurrecting the Etsy shop or an Etsy shop soon. It will be a collaboration of Jason's and the kids' designs and my hands. I was going to do it before but got swept (rightfully) into the busyness of the kids' flow and my writing. At one point I was really anxious about it all but now, I think I might have struck a decent balance that takes care of everyone. The trick, it turns out, is setting flexible distant deadlines. And being kind and forgiving to yourself. Realizing there are only 24 hours in a day and working within that framework is a lot easier than trying to push the boundaries of time to suit your needs. It is one of those lessons you must learn for yourself. Staying home with the kids means I have a new rhythm in my day, freedom from set schedules but there are certain points which must be met to make family life smoother. Mealtimes. Clean laundry. Story time. Park time. Turns out kids like consistency and food. Luckily they are not so concerned with the finer details of housework and would rather see me making something than dusting. I haven't quite gotten them to appreciate the time I spend at my desk muttering do myself and hunched over my keyboard but that is what the post-bedtime hours are for.
So be on your guard. Gu Choki Pa is back.
xo

(14)

I reopened my fabric shop today. I am currently debating closing it again in a few months since I am not sure I can manage it with a newborn. I do enjoy the excuse to go to the fabric shop and I love connecting with fabric loving folks around the world. So I will give it careful thought.

I am planning to launch another Etsy shop in March, when my maternity leave begins. I am working on my inventory right now, cutting out linen and listening to Living on Earth. This new shop will be focused on family and small people's goods. I'll have more details later, closer to the opening day, March 7th.

Alrighty, I just noticed the time and now I feel very sleepy. (1.30 AM) I better put all the sharp needles and scissors away and hit the hay. Good night everyone.

xo

(11)

Here are some prototypes I am working on for my next big project:



The doll is actually a rattle and the design is based on the Japanese wooden kokeshi. I re-used a little plastic gumball case and put a few azuki beans in it for the rattle effect.

The block is part of my effort to use all the fabrics I have before buying new materials. I cut up enough squares for about five sets of three blocks. Fun and easy to make. Perfect thing to make if your hands need to make something but the clock says there isn't much time for creating.

Okay, that cute little one is now vocalizing her need for a nap. Take care.

(8)

By Nico...





My W.I.P.s...

The Business at Hand

My summer holiday has definitely gone a different direction than I anticipated. Instead of the laziness (I mean, recuperation)that I had planned on, I have been working on what I suppose can now be officially considered my small business. I have learned a lot about what it takes to make the shop really run, mainly due to making many mistakes along the way.

What is really important when involved in such a project is to remember the motivating force behind the ambition. My favorite way to achieve this is a trip to the park, with the "motivating force" in tow.






Yes. I remember now.
xoxo

Things I Have Learned as an Online Entrepreneur

So my digital doors have been open for a week and though I have had a few visitors, no buyers have crossed the threshold yet. During this initial downtime, I have compiled a list that I thought would be good to share with you, in case you are attempting to walk down the small business path or just like a good chuckle at how I have been stumbling around in the online marketplace for the past few days.

1. Don't set impossible goals for yourself. Especially if your goals involve your hands because, and this might come as a shock, you only have two of them. Ten fingers yes, but only two hands. And if small, nursing children are involved it is likely that there may be only one hand in the picture.

2. Don't take #1 as a challenge. It is not a challenge. There are such things as impossible goals.

3. Make and sell what you like and don't worry too much about what you think people will like. It seems that if you like something yourself, then you add that magic to it when you make it and people recognize and respond to that.

4. Renewing doesn't seem to be worth it. Just post more stuff instead.

5. Posting more stuff means experimenting more which means you will probably figure out what you like to make and sell quicker. Feel free to play around with your products and shop. Once you get more established you might not be able to do that.

6. Take advantage of the editing feature. If you feel the need to write a product description say at 1 o'clock in the morning, read it again after you wake up. Retake pictures because those visual gems become tiny little squares that pop up on the surface of the online marketplace for just a second before sinking back down into your shop.

行くよ！

It's go time, folks. My shop is up and running and we are celebrating the modest opening in a grand way by offering you a ten percent off coupon. Just enter the coupon code 'rockscissorspaper' when you checkout. I'm also offering free shipping during the grand opening week.

Here is the shop update schedule for the next month:

June 16th: Infant/Toddler Cloth Slippers (Suripa)
June 17th: Sundresses (Natsuko Line)
June 18th: Cloth Dolls (The Aki-chan)
June 20th: Pinafore Dresses (Arisu Line)
June 24th: Japanese Cut Fabric
June 30th: Jimbei (Midori Line)
July 4th: Sundresses (Yoko Line)
July 16th: General Update
July 20th: Lunch Kits (Obento)


I am really excited to launch the shop finally after so many minor and major delays. Thank you for all your support and encouragment. It meant/means a lot to me. Domo arigatou gozaimasu!

xoxo

June Sixteenth

Yikes, it seems almost two weeks were caught in a vortex and swept away. There was Sebastian's sports day, Nico's petting zoo and picnic, Nico's picnic again, rain, more rain, work, more work, and finally today, a day off and we're off again to the aquarium with one of my students.

But after we get back, when the kiddies are sleeping with the windows open and fans blowing cool air on their flushed cheeks, then that is when I will be putting the finishing touches on Gu Choki Pa, my etsy shop. I will be opening the virtual doors June 16th with slippers, sundresses, and Aki dolls. There are a lot of things that won't be in there on the opening day and this was bothering me, but then I remembered that it is my shop and I can run it the way I wish. As much as I want to make a good go of it, my available time and energy is definitely abbreviated, a reality that is far different from my expectations. Regardless, as I am often telling my kids, a little bit is better than zero so I must do what I can and be happy. Especially with handmade goods. I couldn't image making things out of linen and cotton and having my negativity stitched right into the seams. I hope to give people little packages of joy and the best way is to start with a relaxed and joyful heart in the process of creation.

I will post again about the shop as the 16th approaches. Until then, please don't mind the silence.

On the storefront

I know I mentioned I was planning to hold a preview in my shop last week, but time got away from me, the willful beast. I have been working slowly towards my early June grand opening by continuously sewing and resewing when things are not up to my standard. I have become more familiar with my machine in these last weeks as well as educating myself on the ins and outs of selling online. Using the blogs on Etsy and reading this book have been very enlightening. This book helps me to understand the more pragmatic side of selling online, which is very good indeed.

Living in Japan has been helpful in that I have become more conscious of details. What used to be acceptable in my sewing now makes me blush but I will chalk it up to being part of the learning process.

I never accomplish as much as I hope over the weekend but as long as I can get my area in order for impromptu sewing, then I can remain inspired and willing to work, even after a long day of teaching and parenting. It is very satisfying to have a tidy work area. The organization revives me.


I will keep chugging along and filling out my inventory. The rotten thing is that the date with immigration is one day before my anticipated grand opening so I will go ahead and expect delays as I deal with the strain of legal headaches. Making and drawing has proved to be a wonderful relief from the stress so I will push myself more in these next few days to finish up my various products. Then I will share again with you.

xo

As Promised

Though a little past due.

WIPs

There was a moment that extended into a day where I believed that my sewing machine was dead, never to be threaded again. Luckily I discovered a quick and lasting fix and now I can continue.
Some things on my work table, designs and patterns being tested.
The Aki-chan doll. There will be a few alterations to what you see here but she's been approved by the original Aki so I am feeling good about her.


Summer dresses...


And more slippers, simply because they are addictive to make.

I will return Thursday evening to share more works in progress.
Here's wishing you many quick and lasting fixes.
Take care.