Shizuka Urusai Craft Blog // Pouches & Pincushions

Branding

2011-02-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

I mentioned previously that one of my businesses resolutions this year was to achieve more of an image "branding." I finally feel as though I've taken steps in that direction. This week I've debuted my new logo/banner and business cards! I really like the look of them. It was the first time I've busted out the old graphic design skills in years. :}

Let me know your thoughts!

I love pastel purples!

Fellow online business owners, what have you done lately to achieve more of a branded image?

As always, take care, friends! ♥

Trying new things

2011-01-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

On Etsy (and in business in general, really), one of the most important things you can try to do is successfully brand yourself so that you are easily recognizable and stand out! My goal for the early half of this year is to try to make my photos cute and uniform in a way that people will think of me when they see them. I am also trying to add as many cute touches to my crafts as possible, such as lovely vibrant zipper pull ribbons! I love the pop it adds to this coin purse.

Happy Houses Kawaii Zippered Coin Purse for $7.50

The idea for a new touch that I am most excited about is adding is the incorporation of embroidery into my designs! Having had a taste of embroidery making my first embroidery project with the Zodiac Embroidery Kit by MiniatureRhino, I really cannot wait to hone my skills.

I plan on make some adorable love letter style pouches with this gorgeous note pad fabric from Japan, with loving words embroidered on in cursive! Keep checking in to see when those show up in the shop within the next few weeks. I'll be so excited to make this a permanent addition to the shop.

Sold by this adorable fabric shop - stefaniexu of Beijing!

Take care, friends! I hope all of the new things you have been trying for the new year have been working our successfully! :)

Lovely kits

2011-01-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

I find that the best gifts are interactive. They remind you of the person who gave it to you every time you use them! So much fun! This year I've been making much more of an effort to give these type of gifts to people, as opposed to the typical store-bought items. Etsy and my credit card are been fast friends.

Here is a gift to myself for Christmas - a gorgeous wax seal set! It's so much fun to use and makes any letter a whole lot classier. I tested it earlier today and it was a delight.

My first try! Even messy drips look classy when they're made of red wax.

While this is not from Etsy, you can find many gorgeous wax seal sets on Etsy. One seller, fromsoul, who is from Seoul (hehehe, I love puns!) in South Korea makes custom initial stamps! So cool!

Alphabet Initial Seal Stamp by fromsoul

Here are some other lovely kit gifts I've found on Etsy. Maybe you might like to give them as gifts to your loved ones?

Here is a Message in a Bottle Kit by fellow New Yorker, MiniatureRhino. So neat! You can use it as decoration, a way to send your heartfelt feelings to someone, or send it off to the seas!

Another kit in the shop of MiniatureRhino that I adore is the DIY Zodiac Embroidery Kit. I've actually recently purchased this for myself; if you recall earlier, I've mentioned how much I want to try to take up embroidery, and I kept to my word! This is an adorable kit and you can choose your zodiac, or perhaps the zodiac sign of the loved one you're giving this gift to? It could be a good gift for a beginner or an experienced embroiderer, I bet!

Zodiac Embroidery Kit by MiniatureRhino - I'm star struck!

As someone with a bit of a green thumb (well... at least I want to have one!), I thought this DIY Organic Indoor Herb Kit by RubySueVintage of Colorado was another thing I had to mention in this entry. I love the vintage owl planter it comes with. It's too adorable. I bet anyone would love this. You can keep re-using the owl planter over and over; or else use it as a decoration if you and plants don't seem to get along, right? ;)

DIY Organic Indoor Herb Kit by RubySueVintage

I hope this helps with any gift ideas and as always, take care, my friends! <3

Embroidery Love

2010-12-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

I was talking to someone special the other day and we both decided we would take up holiday hobbies! This winter vacation from classes, I want to learn how to embroider!

I've been inspired by all of the amazing examples of hand-stitching and embroidery I've seen on Etsy. There are so many amazing pieces I would love to buy and hang on my wall. I have pages of them in my favorites that I periodically admire.

Amazing Orion Hand Embroidery by MiniatureRhino, a fellow New Yorker!

Looks so soft! Lovely Snowy Cloud Embroidery by PilliPillihandmade

I purchased this adorable how to kit on Sublime Stitching, a really amazing embroidery website that sells how-to kits that teach how to embroider! $20 is a pretty good deal considering all of the stuff you get within the kit, which includes a wooden embroidery hoop!

Look at all of that stuff!

Wish me luck in my practice and learning! What hobbies and new skills are you guys learning this holiday season? :)

Lots of love, friends!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Just wishing you all a wonderful holiday! I will be spending the next few days with family and friends and celebrating the season! The Stocking Stuffer deal is winding down, but shall still be going until the 27th if you would like to buy some last minute items to give for New Years or Post-Christmas gifts! :)

Buy Kawaii Robot Zippered Coin Purse here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64685291/little-robots-in-blue-kawaii-zippered

Buy Kimono Girls Zipper Pouch:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64686388/kimono-girls-kawaii-zipper-pouch

My plans for 2011 consist of branching out and advertising on a few nice kawaii-theme craft websites, so I hope you will be seeing me around the internet soon! I am also going to drafting up e-reader holder patterns too. I'll have a Kindle soon, so I'll be able to use it for modeling in my photos!

Take care, friends!

Wow!

2010-12-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

Long time, no update. Sorry friends, I've been so busy lately that I've had hardly any time to think. :) I've finished my classes for the semester, which means that I have much more time to devote to working on my Etsy shop!

I'm delighted by the success of my Stocker Stuffer promotion so far. For those who didn't know, it's a promotion in which you buy any three items in the shop and get the cheapest absolutely FREE! Many people are really pleased with this sale since they can keep one pouch for themselves, and give the rest to their friends and family.

I've been supplying more holiday themed fabrics for this season. Look at these adorable wintery pouches! Once again, I gotta say that I adore the results of the lightbox.

Snowflakes & Song Birds Zipper Pouch -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63135595/snowflakes-songbirds-kawaii-zipper-pouch

Happy Winter Holidays Zippered Coin Purse -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63026531/happy-winter-holidays-kawaii-zippered

Thank you so much for your winter business! What are you doing for the holidays, friends?

Lightbox

2010-11-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

This week I decided to work on a little project: making a light box!

There are options for buying them in stores or online, but they're fairly expensive, when you can make one at home. Depending on the supplies in your home, it could cost anything from $5-10 dollars, or even free! My brother takes art classes in college, so he had things such as bristol paper (which you put on the inside of the lightbox for a nice white even background) around the house. Instead of muslin fabric, I used an old white t-shirt that I cut up and upcycled for the light diffuser. Check out the results:

Dandelions and Flowers Zipper Pouch is available for $10 on Etsy!

Want to know how it is done? Check out this fantastic tutorial!

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

Enjoy, friends!

Stocking Stuffer Sale

2010-11-07T07:59:00.000-08:00

The holidays are coming before you know it, so I'm running a sale right now in preparation for Christmas!

`•.¸¸.•´´¯`•• .¸¸.•´¯`•.•●•۰• ••.•´¯`•.•• ••.•´¯`•

Stocking Stuffer Christmas Sale

Pick Three Items ~ Get The Cheapest Item FREE

`•.¸¸.•´´¯`•• .¸¸.•´¯`•.•●•۰• ••.•´¯`•.•• ••.•´¯`•

How this works is that I refund the amount of the cheapest item to your paypal account. Or, if you have two items and you want a third, you can convo me to discuss which third item you want. Either way works.

Convo me for details! Enjoy friends. :)

New Style

2010-10-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

I've just featured my new style of pouches in my shop yesterday! They're lovely pleated clutches. They can be used as a standard pouch to organize the inside of your purse or as a statement clutch.

I can't get over the adorable anchor fabric. ;) I love that sailor style.

I hope you like them, friends!

Growing

2010-10-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how tiny this daisy plant was just a few weeks ago! In September, it was still just a sproutling!

You're still just so little!

Now, look how enormous it has grown!

Rainy days make for dark photos. ;;

I hope you will grow into a big strong plant with flowers soon!

What's new, pussycat? Woaoaoaoaaaah.

2010-10-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

October started out with an explosion of activity, but it's definitely turned into a dry spell in the second half of the month. I wonder why that is? I know with me, I ended up spending so much in the first half that I need to watch my wallet now! I wonder if that's the case with everyone else on Etsy? Too much splurging... :)

I've been fairly busy this weekend, but my work load should settle down soon, which is good because a good deal of fabric will arrive in the mail soon! I can't wait. Check out some of these cute designs that will be in my items listed in the future:

Anyway, lots of college work to do. Also, the entire family is sick so I am making nice yummy hot chili tonight to soothe us all! Time to prepare that. Take care, friends. :)

Express Edit for Etsy Users

2010-10-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging to let all of my readers know about a fantastic new tool for Etsy shop owners on Craftopolis.com

I discussed their website in a previous entry when I talked about analytics. This time, I'm mentioning the because of their new feature - Express Editing.

This is a fantastic tool for anyone who needs to change prices of a large group of items. For example, if you are doing a sale on one section of your shop, and you want to knock a dollar off the price of all of the items in that section, it can be done in seconds, and without making your items appeared unlisted as you edit them. Fantastic, right?

Enjoy, friends. :)

Business

2010-10-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

I've been impossibly busy this week. For now, I will say that I had a blast at the NYCC/NYAF! I met a lot of great artist, got an autograph from writer and creator of Babylon Five, saw Bruce Campbell in person, and did a lot of shopping. I took photos with lots of awesome cosplayers, as well. :) Lots of talent, lots of fun! I bought hairclips, paper goods, and even an amigurumi cupcake! Wuahhhhh! <3

Chilling with the Star Wars crew. :)

On a more craft-related topic, I'm planning on listing a few things this weekend. Look forward to more cute happy apple tree crafts and relisting of a few popular items. I would like to do more, but life gets in the way, as usual.

I am also going to be doing some fabric shopping soon. What type of animals/objects/colors would YOU like to see in future products? I'd truly appreciate your feedback, so that I know I am supplying what my faithful shoppers and readers want to see and buy!

Take care, friends! :)

New York Anime Festival

2010-10-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm going to the NYAF! So exciting. :) One of my favorite things about living in New York is being so close to all of these events.

I wonder what kind of nice shops I will find and celebrities I will see?! The only person I know for sure who will be there is Bruce Campbell! I'm sure I'll see lots of cosplayers as well. I'll let you guys know about all of the fun. when I return.

Take care and check out all of my new listings. :)

Analytics Basics for the Etsy Newb.

2010-10-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make this update for a while, but I kept putting it to the back burner between having so much college work to catch up on, house sitting, and being ill. I finally have time to write it now, so here I go.

I think one of the most valuable tools out there for any new Etsian, besides all of the guides on Etsy and the advice of the friendly Etsy forum people are the various analytic websites out there. Besides Google Analytics, which is the standard statistical analytic website that you can set up to synch with your Etsy shop, there are many other websites that I've either found through others on Etsy or just stumbling through. I'm going to explain these websites in a basic way for anyone who is new to either Etsy in and of itself, advertising outside of Etsy, or analytics in general. I'll also explain how to use these in the best way - after all, Google Analytics for example gives you so much information it's hard to know exactly what it means and how to use that information to improve your shop. Here we go:

Google Analytics -

Many people are familiar with this website. It's the biggest and most comprehensive analytics website out there, and also happens to be the only analytics website that you can directly sync with Etsy (to my knowledge). The pros of this website are obvious, but the major con is that there is so much information given that the average person doesn't quite understand at first what it all means without doing a good deal of research. For example, what the heck is a bounce rate? Is it good to have a high one? I'm going to break it down for you:

When you log into Google Analytics, the two more important sections for you will be Visitors and Traffic Sources. Let's go look at Visitors first. The nitty gritty of your visitor stats are broken down for you. You can disregard for the most part the Technical Profile, though it is interesting.

Example screenshot by Optimized Promotion

Visits is quite obvious, but what is the difference between Visits and Absolute Unique Visits? Absolute Unique Visits are the stats for every single different IP address that has visited your Etsy. For examples, you visiting your Etsy quite often in the day to check up on your views, hearts, sales, etc will inflate your Visits stats quite a bit, so Absolute Unique Visits is the number you really want to look at.

Time on Site and Bounce Rate both pertain to what people do once they reach your Etsy. You want your Time on Site to be as high as possible, as it means that people are (potentially) browsing your Etsy quite a lot, very interested and possibly picking out items to purchase. That one is quite obvious, but what about that Bounce Rate?

Sorry to say, but Bounce Rate is one number you want to get as LOW as possible! The bounce rate pertains to how many people visit your Etsy and leave immediately without further browsing your items and other pages. Don't be too concerned about this number. There are various techniques to get it as low as possible over time. You can check these techniques out at the Storque page here. I've tried a few of them and it's gotten my bounce rate to below 50%, so I can say that they do help!

Bounce Rate is important though, as it helps indicate your market's interests. This is where Traffic Sources comes in, so let's move onto that tab now.

Example screenshot by Optimized Promotion

Wow, lots of information! Top Traffic Sources is the most important area of this page. Sources simply indicates where your people are finding your page. This is really useful for seeing which places your advertising is most effective, and which are least. From this information, you can see which places you may want to stop advertising on, and which places you might want to devote more work to. Are you getting a lot of Twitter views? Cool, now you can work on getting those Facebook Page views up! Chop chop!

Keywords is possibly one of the most useful parts of analytics. Click full report and bathe in an unadulterated mass of numbers! OK, don't feel too overwhelmed, keywords is actually fairly interesting. In this chart, you see what keywords, either typed into Google or Etsy, lead people to your website.

Example chart by web analytics blog, Kaushik.net

More importantly, you can see the bounce rate of these keywords. This is REALLY important because it shows you what people are looking for. For examples, my highest current keyword is "kawaii umbrella." The bounce rate, or people who leave immediately without looking at my items, is only 14%, which is really low. That means that people who like kawaii-style and umbrella items are interested in my Etsy. This means that I should increase my stock in kawaii style and start supplying umbrella patterned items. I've actually just received a really cute umbrella fabric that I purchased recently because of this very reason!

Photo and fabric by the fabulous store of ikoplus.

And with this knowledge, you're on your way to be an analytics expert! Awesome! Now you can check in on this information periodically and see how your changes are influencing your stats. You can also check some really neat things, like where in the world your shop is most popular. For example, my page views are high and my bounce rates are very low among Etsy browsers in Taiwan. They must really like me there! ;)

Here are a few other great analytic sites:

Clicky
Did you know you could and should have analytics for your own craft/personal blog? I find Clicky to be really awesome for this. Clicky is similar to Google Analytics, but much simpler and less information overload, which can be good and bad, depending on what you're looking for. I find Clicky to be good for blogs because you need less information than you'd need for Etsy - the most important information is your views, general bounce rate and the unique links, which are basically just the individual links that people have clicked to find your website all over the internet. I like Clicky a great deal because it compares your recent views on a graph to past views, so you see if you're getting more views or less! Neat!

Craftopolis

Very similar to the famous heart-o-matic, but I really like how Craftopolis breaks it all down over a calender spread. You can see all hearts you've received over the month, all of your profits on each day, as well as page views and unique visitors. Great, huh? It gets better - you can also see the keywords (Search Terms) that people used and have found your items through, as well as which page your item fell on, which is fairly interesting. I also really like the Treasure Tracks feature, which shows all of your items which have been featured in a treasury, and a link to them. It's a little easier than Etsy's treasury search feature, only because it only shows the items you've had featured in OTHER treasuries, rather than just every treasury you've ever made plus your features, which is good for anyone who makes lots of treasuries, like me. :)

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I hope this helped any newbies out there starting out in wonderful world of Etsy! Good luck. You can do it!

References: http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/etsy-success-web-analytics-tips-9200/

New Listings 10/2 // Fabric Labels

2010-10-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few new listings that I've put up over the past week. :)

Look how crisp they are!

If you are very observant, you might have noticed that the last picture has a label in it! That's because I finally received my custom made satin fabric labels today in the mail. I absolutely love them. They add so much class to my items, and they're so soft and sturdy. I'd definitely recommend JennifersJewels if anyone else is in need of fabric labels.

Take care, friends! ♥

Fabric Love

2010-09-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to make a quick update and mention my favorite fabric shop on Etsy!

ikoplus supplies a huge amount of super kawaii Japanese fabric. The prices are great, the shipping is fast, and the customer service is the best! If you need any cute Japanese fabric, you should definitely shop there!

I'm still ill so I'm taking it easy tonight with the season premiere of Dexter, Vicks Vabor Rub, and some NyQuill, but when my strength is up I will add some new items made with the fabulous fabric I purchased. Here is one of them. :) I just love the color.

Take care, friends! ♥

Success!

2010-09-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

I've finally found the perfect tutorial for teaching me how to make coin purses. I can do it now! Plus using a loop purse frame is so much easier for me. They're so sturdy because I use double threading of a strong black thread when I sew them in. Maybe one day I'll be able to do glue-in frames, but for now, this is much easier and I feel confident that I can sell these, because they're not covered in glue. ;]

I made an extremely adorable kawaii one that is red with big white polka dots. I love it! I was looking forward listing it this morning, but the weather is so dark and grey that I can't take photos (I still need a lightbox!) for Etsy. Oh well. It will be up soon.

Now I feel confident that I can supply these coin purses, so I've ordered several more purse frames. I'll be happy to start selling coin purses. :)

Welcome to Fall Sale

2010-09-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Just one of the many cute autumn items on sale!

Good news!

I'm announcing the start of my limited time "Welcome to Fall" sale going on at Etsy! All fall themed/fall colored items are being offered for FREE SHIPPING! Woo-hoo! Check it, friends!

Free Shipping & Sale Items at Shizuka Urusai

eReader Pouches

2010-09-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

I've decided on a new pattern to design this weekend, finally! I've seen quite a few super kawaii iPad holders and Macbook sleeves, but I've hardly seen any for eReaders, which is shocking considering how popular eReaders have become this year. I need to get in on the eReader craze and supply some cute things before they become really wide spread on Etsy.

I'm going to look into some heavier interface or perhaps some quilting batting to make something really squishy and protective. I'll also research some measurements. I figure I will supply pouches that are made specifically for the Nook and the Kindle, which I believe are nearly the same size anyway. Are they are other really big eReader names that I should include, or are those two brands pretty much the sole names in the market?

As soon as I get some of the really cute fabric I ordered, I will start. I believe I'll be receiving my super cute umbrella fabric in due time so maybe I'll start with that. :)

In other news I'm feeling slightly icky, so I will take it easy until I gain my strength back, craft a lot and stay in. I miss working out, but something tells me that if I'm feeling so tired that climbing four stories of stairs gets me winded, I probably shouldn't try my Jillian Michaels tapes until I recover or I might keel over! ;)

Try, try, try again

2010-09-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

I have a confession: I'm not really that good at sewing.

Before I shoot myself in the foot, that isn't to say that I make poor quality things! I know my pouches and tissue holders and all the other things I list on my Etsy are pretty, sturdy and of high quality because I've practiced making them so many times it's very ingrained and I can see every little error and fix them so that they're as good as can be, which is why I feel confident enough to sell them.

But I have no real inborn talent for sewing. It's funny because I have such natural talent in so many other things, like singing and art, all hobbies that I've played around with but never stuck to seriously (granted, I almost went into college for opera, but that's another story for another day...), despite being naturally good at them without working hard at it.

I'll be entirely honest and say that it usually takes me at least a half dozen attempts at a new pattern until I get it right enough that I feel comfortable presenting it on the blog or selling it or even giving it away. Sometimes more! My first time pattern attempts are fairly catastrophic, all lopsided and lumpy. They live in the living room cupboard; I throw them out if I can't cut them up and up-cycle the fabric for other projects, but my parents sneak them out of the garbage and clean them and keep them, because they say they like everything I make. It's kind of cute of them to do, it's a very parent-like thing to do, hehe. :)

I still have my first sewing attempt ever, which was this hideous tote bag that's lop sided, with scary top stitching and is way too small to use. It's kind of a confident boost to look at!

But even now, my first attempts are still pretty poor! I just tried to make my own pattern for a slip-in eyeglass holder and it came out kind of mess. I tried to make a coin purse just before as well, and it was way too small to fit into the frame! Eek! (Though otherwise, it was actually fairly perfect. I'll chalk it up to the expertise of the blog tutorial I'm following, which I will feature later on when I actually make a good enough coin purse to show!)

Perhaps it's the challenge that sewing presents that keeps me hooked to it? It doesn't come naturally so I want to work hard until I can do it just as well as someone who was born to sew? I'm a bit stubborn. :) I'm determined to try and practise as many patterns as I can so that I can become really skilled at many a ton of different things and then start adding them as listings on Etsy when I'm confident they're as good as they can be.

How about you, friends? Are you naturally talented at your choice of crafts or do you think you're on the "mess up a million times until I get it perfect" side of things? Don't be shy/modest! Be honest!

Bouncing around ideas.

2010-09-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

I want to make some new products to put into my shop. Currently, these are the crafts I would like to start drafting up patterns for to make.

Eyeglass Holder Pouch
Business card holder (Perhaps with Velcro or with a snap for closure)
Cute Scarves (technically they're fairly easy to make, it's just that I need to find the right fabric!)
Kiss Clasp Coin Purse (these are really tricky to make because I get glue all over, but I recently bought a sew in purse frame so maybe I'll have success. ;] )

Any other items you could suggest, that are relatively Fat Quarter sized? :)

Thank you, friends! Your ideas help us run!

Shizuka Urusai loves PINCUSHIONS

2010-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Most would assume that the most difficult items for me to make in my shops are probably the zipper pouches. A lot of people have the fear of sewing zippers. Well, for me, I think pincushions are by far the most challenging. They combine so many different types of techniques! They're very fun to make, but can be tricky. So I have a great appreciation for those who make them.

So today's blog post is an Etsy shop feature of those who make super cute pincushions with a little something extra to make them POP! Enjoy!

I would never have thought to add crochet applique. Awesome! By namolio in England!

Holy moley, that's making my mouth water! Too cute! By SeaPinks.

Hahah, that's so original and brilliant! Love it! By supah

Wow, that must take some skill to make! Plus, super cute bees are plus! By joycemac634

Oh, he is too precious! I want him, though I'd feel sad sticking needles into him! ;)
By PurplePlatypus

List of Featured Shops:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/namolio

http://www.etsy.com/shop/purpleplatypus

http://www.etsy.com/shop/joycemac634

http://www.etsy.com/shop/supah

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeaPinks

Keep up the good work, guys. ;) And take care, faithful readers!

Craft Fair

2010-09-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

I just returned from my first craft fair a few hours ago! I'm a person who loves lists, so I will break it down into one:

Pros:

The spot rental fee went 100% to a good cause - a charity called The Dog Project. As an animal lover, it's awesome to know my money went to something good. I figured even if I didn't make any profits, at least I lent myself to a good cause.
The day was beautiful. A little hot, but a very sunny day which just tells people to go out and venture!
I got my business cards and magnets out there to many people. Advertisement was the main point of this fair, so I was happy!
I sold enough to make back what I paid for the rental.

Cons:

This fair wasn't very much of handmade craft fair as much as a Goodwill/Vintage/Old Junk sort of fair. Those kind of fairs are fun, but when you are one of the only people selling handmade and expecting handmade prices, compared to the rest of the people who are selling cute cheap curios for a dollar, you're not going to sell very much!
Only made two sales. :( Most people just ignored my table completely.

All in all, I'd have to say the craft fair was a bit of a flop, but it was a good learning experience. The people who did stop to browse commented on the quality of my fabrics and crafts, as well as how cute and different they were. I think that my items were well received, but this venue wasn't quite the place to sell them, because very little of my target audience was there. Most importantly, I got my name out there, enjoyed myself, and met a few very nice people! Next time I think I may want to invest more money into a more handmade oriented fair, such as one of the Renegade Fairs, next time it comes to NY.

I also got in a little bit of shopping done while my mama manned the table. The woman stationed next to me had all old vintage fabrics that she sold me for 25 cents each, and the family on the other side of me had an adorable planter holder which is just perfect for my windowsill garden!

For the rest of the day, I think I will just do a little bit of Etsy listing. I also have an essay to write - I should probably do that! Hehe! Take care, friends! ;)

Shizuka Urusai loves the seedlings

2010-09-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Your Cute For The Day:

Remember when I posted about my tiny eggling sprouts a few weeks ago? Look how big it has grown since! They have their second leaves and are growing their third set of leaves now. :)

I love the spiky shapes some of these leaves are taking. :) If I didn't tell you guys before, this plant is going to be a daisy!

Have a wonderful weekend, guys! My craft fair is tomorrow (yes, the weather will be nice, so it's on like Donkey Kong!) so I'll have photos and news on that soon. :) <3

The social networking bug has bitten!

2010-09-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

I don't generally like to update this blog with self-promotion unless it's actually related to Etsy and the things that I've crafted (which is probably why you're reading this blog - you want to see the new goodies being listed!). So bear with me, friends, through this news.

Your laugh for the day brought to you by Work Photo Collections.

If you really love us, crave more spontaneous and frequent updates, or want to have more direct contact with us, like and follow the fan page over at Facebook!

Shizuka Urusai Facebook Fan Page

If you're not big on the FB but you have a Twitter, you can follow us over at that sphere of the social network world - @shizukaurusai

If you follow us on both, then you're just a superstar. ;)

Be sure to comment with your own FB fan pages and twitters, any crafting buddies out there! I'd like to have more to follow. :)

Take care, friends!

Rainy Time

2010-09-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Super cute knit by Mochimochi

Uh-oh! The craft fair is closed today because of the rain! :(

All is not lost though. I have a rain date for next weekend, when the weather should be much nicer, and more people will want to come out and visit the show! :}

I guess today will be a crafting and studying day instead. I think I will go to Starbucks and enjoy a yummy Pumpkin Spice Latte and do some college work.

Take care friends!

PS: Check out this adorable new listing! Autumn Town Zipper Pouch! The fabric used to make it is probably my favorite fabric of all time, purchased from Stefaniexu. Besides the fact that I am in love with Japanese cotton linen blend fabric, it has such pretty coffee tones. Perfect for the fall, right? ;)

Just looking at it makes me want coffee! Those browns are so yummy!

Supplies are fun!

2010-09-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

I love craft supplies. One of my favorite things to shop for on Etsy are shipping supplies, both gift bags to put any of my crafts that have been purchased in and gift tags! There are so many cute things out there, I wish I could buy it all!

Here is an assortment of lovely supplies I've found on Etsy today, while shopping. :)

A URL list of all shops featured is at the end of this post.

Paper Bags

by Littleteethshop

by paperb

by buffet

Plastic bags

By haato - I actually just bought these. :)

by cheepackage

And lots of adorable gift tags!

By flirtdeux

by Seasonaldelights

by FoxesandRobbers

A really awesome $1 sale by KatesScrapNSupplies

Enjoy. ;)

Shops Featured:

Tomorrow is the Craft Fair!

2010-09-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my craft fair, weather permitting. There is a chance that it might thunderstorm, so it might be delayed until next Sunday. However, I'll hope for the best. Fingers crossed for me, friends!

I have approx. 26 items that I'm bringing! A good thing they're all very small items, or else that could be difficult to transport!

I'm very excited. Today, I will just busy myself by prepping my items, last minute ironings, attaching price tags, stuffing them with paper wrap to make them look a little more professional, etc. :)

Just a note: Tomorrow, my Etsy shop will be closed in vacation mode for my craft fair as I am bringing all items in my inventory, including my Etsy stock, to my fair. If there are any items you had your eye on, please make sure you buy them before tomorrow morning, or else there's a chance they'll be gone! Any items that have been unpurchased at the craft fair will be left on Etsy when I resume business on Monday.

Take care, friends!

Sewing Station!

2010-09-07T04:09:00.000-07:00

You know, friends, I just realized that while I've talked about my sticker covered sewing machine, I've never actually showed any photos of it. :0

This is my first and only sewing machine. Maybe I will upgrade in the future to a sewing machine that has more features on it, but for now, this is my partner in business!

Autumn Season Questions

2010-09-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends!

As you know, fall is here. Well - not exactly. The weather isn't fall like yet, but Starbucks has Pumpkin Spice Lattes again, so it is fall in my heart! So I've been sipping those delicious lattes even though it's still weather up to the 90s lately, haha!

Anyway, I wanted to ask what you, the readers, associate fall when it comes to fabrics. It could be something obvious like a design of autumn leaves or something that is more abstract, like a design with coffee beans on it. Anything at all that you think of, I would appreciate you writing down in a comment. After my craft fair next week, I'm going to do some fabric shopping so I can stop up on a nice stash of Japanese import fabric and general cutesy fabric that just scream "Fall is here!" So that's where you come in to help. There's a sea of fabric out there, so I need to know what I should look for. I know what I like, but I like to also be conscientious of the type of fabric customers like to see. :)

In other news, here are two new listings that I've put up. They all fall under my current limited time summer sale section of FREE SHIPPING. :) Check it out!

Thank you and take care! ♥

Treasury Feature 9/3

2010-09-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! I always feel so honored when I'm featured in any treasury; but this treasury is just gorgeous. Thanks so much for including me.

Japanese loveliness!

Check this wonderful treasury out, friends!

New Listings for 9/3

2010-09-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Friends! It's good to be updating again. I've had such an incredibly busy week back at college, but I'm enjoying it - aside from the difficult and long commute. ;)

Good news; I managed to craft a bit this week despite being busy. Since I received my beautiful FQs of Japanese import in the mail a few days ago that I blogged about before, I was able to make some really gorgeous pouches. I tried a new sewing technique, as well as trying out a new type of interfacing, and I could not be happier with the result. I think this really took me to the next level in my crafting!

This fabric seems to be a favorite! I'm happy to say I have
pouches in this design again for you all again! :)

I cannot get enough of this fabric. It is sooo cute!

What do you think, friends?

In other news, I'm currently looking into having some label tags designed so that I can add a touch of professionalism to my items. You can find some wonderful deals on Etsy. It's much cheaper than having a business do it, and you have that wonderful handmade touch. :)

Have a good weekend, everyone!

New Listing 8/28 // On retaking Etsy item photos

2010-08-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

A new tissue holder I made earlier today has just been listed. Enjoy, friends!

I've also made a really gorgeous new over-sized deluxe overnight bag, though I've not yet listed it. It has a nylon lining so it's really easily cleaned with a wipe and moisture resistant, so it's great for toiletries. It's also wonderful as a really large make-up bag for make-up fanatics, like me, since it's so big and easy to clean. :] It measures approx 14" x 8.5"!

That brings me onto my next point. I think I'm going to start trying a new style in my photographs. It was recommended that I take photos of my pouches propped upright, with light stuffing inside to really make them look their best. I took some test photos earlier and I really liked the look of it. I think I will be retaking some photos tomorrow of all of my pouches in that way. It'll also make my listings look more uniform on my shop home page, which I like!

Which leaves me to end this post with a question: how often do you retake your photos and why? Take care and goodnight, friends!

Sproutlings

2010-08-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from discussing sewing to show you some close up photography of the sproutlings! So cute! Remember, life is a craft project. ;)

Getting so big that I can't even put plastic wrap over
the top as a make-shift hot house anymore! :o

Brought my Eggling home for the weekend from
the office. Look how it is flourising? <3

And a close up! Oh, the magic of photography!

I love these little sproutlings. I hope the flourish and grow into big strong plants! :)

New Listings for 8/26

2010-08-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Two new listings, friends. I added the autumn owl tissue holder and a new Matryoshka & Mushroom gauze zipper pouch!

Expect to see cute things like this at the craft fair coming up! ;)

Art Shark Designs, Inking, and Stamps

2010-08-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it look gorgeous in that frame?
It was only $7.99 at Michael's!

Hello, friends!

I may be busy, but I still always make time for some Etsy browsing and shopping, and I've recently found a fantastic artist on Etsy that I have purchased from - Art Shark Design. The artist, Megan, makes a special kind of art called "Gocco" which originated in Japan, and her art features romance in all different cities in the world! Being an NYC girl, originally, I just had to have this gorgeous Brooklyn print!

I received it super fast and it was packaged with love. All in all, I'd recommend Art Shark Design to anyone who likes the gocco style of printing and good service! Thanks again, Megan! ;]

My favorite thing about the packaging, besides receiving my print safely, was she included a card explaining the gocco art process. That was so cool. I wish there was some kind of artistic process, such as screen printing, that I could explain to my customers. That would be really neat!

Speaking of which, when I was in Michael's, I found their stamping section and found it fantastic and cute. I'm interesting in trying a process of buying a sandy cotton/canvas blend fabric, similar to the sandy Matryoshka fabric that I adore so much, and then stamping it with kawaii-style stamps I find. It would be really neat because it would be more original, since the design would be coming from me completely, plus it would have a nice simplistic vibe with the focus being on the stamped design. I worry that it would be a bit of a deviation from the Japanese and general asian aesthetic, but if the stamp designs fit into that vibe, then all will be good. :)

My main problem was in Michael's, the stamps seemed to be not at all suited for fabrics. They were mostly aimed for papercrafts. A few were dye-based, but didn't seem entirely geared towards fabric. I want to make sure that any ink designs stay nice and bold and don't stain on anyone's purse or anything bad like that. Any readers out there know of a good ink brand to try?

As usual, goodnight and thank you for reading, friends! I couldn't do it without you!

More on the craft fair

2010-08-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

Busy busy busy. I've made three pouches, two pincushions, and six tissue holders thus far this weekend. I took a break from crafting because I had a case of the blues, but I'm back on the sewing machine! I'm still waiting on my other fabrics I ordered, so I'm just using up my old favorite fabrics I have left over, such as my red winking owl fabric and the orange kawaii owl fabric. Oldies but goodies! Perfect colors for an autumn craft fair. :)

Hoo hoo!

I decided on the goal quantities I would like to have at my show.

☆ 20 tissue holders

☆ 10 pin cushions

☆ 15 pouches (in all type of sizes - the standard size and the pencil cases)
☆ 5 make-up pouches

(I've not listed the make-up pouches online before, but they're generally 14 x 10, quite large, with a nylon type of lining that is easily cleaned, very good for make-up addicts like me! I love these, I use them for my make-up all the time and they were a hit at work)

I think this is a fair quantity. I'm trying to have a diverse price spread so I have items available for all price ranges.

And a few stuffed toys if I manage to make some in time for when the show comes around. I'd really rather not dip into my Etsy stock, but I may take some things down and push them into the show if I'm missing a few items!

In other news, I start a new semester in a new university very soon, so between that and the craft show, don't be worried if dissappear for a while. I'm just very busy. I'm immensely excited to start school again, despite the fact that I have 22 novels I need to read this semester, some of those being real door stoppers! I even started to read early to get off to a good start. *dork* 8)

I'm not dead!

2010-08-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not dead, friends! Just very busy between work and making supplies for the craft show. :) I should have an update coming up soon.

However, in the mean time, check out my latest treasury. To those not in the Etsy-sphere, a treasury is a collection of items (not your own, others) put up by other Etsy shops. Usually the items selected are part of a theme of the treasury.

Can you tell that autumn is my favorite season?

My theme is autumn chromatic colors. See the yellows fade into oranges which then fade into reds and browns! :)

Enjoy the lovely items. I wish I could buy them all!

Supplies

2010-08-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

I love buying supplies. Since I've signed up for the craft fair, I have a good excuse to buy some!

I can't get over the colors in this!
It's kawaii style but still has rich dark colors.

My favorite supply shopping is fabric shopping, of course. ;) One of the fortunate parts of being a primarily fat quarter project type of crafter is that I can order bundles of Japanese import FQs for a good deal. I ordered some gorgeous Japanese cotton fabric last night.

I bought two FQs from Mwenda's Etsy. I feel obligated to show everyone because it's one of the few Etsy shops located in the far east that charges really reasonable shipping prices to the US, especially for multiple orders. Thank you, Mwendas! ♥

Familiar, yes? That's because I keep ordering this fabric.
I've ordered this in blue, orange, and purple! Love it!

Nothing much else is new. My Eggling has become to sprout its first little Daisy sproutlings. I am shocked how strong and hearty they are. I wasn't really expecting my Eggling to flourish much, because I was growing it in my office, where it only got fluorescent lighting rather than the real kind, like my windowsill plants do. Hooray!

Do check out my new updated shop policies page. Nothing really has changed - I just added some additional information. After critiquing others' policies pages in the Etsy forums, I've realized my own policy page could use some clarifications. :)

Goodnight, friends! ♥

Craft Fairs & Pincushions

2010-08-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

llo friends! Check out some of my new stock that I put on Etsy:

Pencil cases = BACK TO SCHOOL~~~

Upcycled goodness!

All that and more at my Etsy shop. :)

In other news, I'm getting over my nervousness and signing up for a craft fair this weekend. It is set for September 15th - it is a farmer's market/artisan fair, that features local crafters, artists, and farmers! I'm really excited. I have a month to prepare my stock.

What do you think I should make the most of? Pouches, pincushions, or tissue holders? I want to offer a spread of items and prices, but I should probably focus on one major item.

Thank you for your feedback, friends. Have a great weekend!

On a roll!

2010-08-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

I did a great deal today. I...

☆ Drove over 150 miles

★ Made a pencil case made of a soft Japanese import cotton gauze

☆ Upcycled a cute-but-crooked pouch made of lovely Japanese import fabric into a cute not crooked pincushion!

★ Did day four of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

☆ Did the laundry. Oh yeah!

Woo-hoo! I'll have some pictures of the cute new products tomorrow when there is good light for photography. I really must invest in a light box!

Fun in the mail

2010-08-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to make a quick update and say that I got my super adorable owl earrings in the mail today. They were custom made by Kim of JKarma3 and they're awesome. She included some really nice goodies, such as an orange ring (which fits perfect!), and a really cute colorful bead bracelet. I just had my nails painted orange, so it looks all so good together! Thanks so much! You should definitely check her shop out. ;)

Have a great night, friends!

Buttons & Technique

2010-08-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

Jo-Ann is truly button heaven. There is a fantastic sale going on there, the Founder's Sale, so I picked up a bunch of buttons and supplies. I can't get over these buttons I bought. They add so much class to my pincushions.

Serious love! I think this is my favorite pincushion I've ever made. :)

I also wanted to share a fantastic technique I found for something very simple... knotting your thread. The method I used to use was good, but this seriously made knotting thread so much easier, quicker, and has made the knot far stronger and secure. My hand stitching has improved already just doing this.

This is my favorite knot too! Thanks for the super tutorial, Heather Bailey!

By the way, keep an eye on my Etsy page, I'll be adding the items I've made this weekend onto it over the next day or two. It's gotten too dark to take any more bright pretty photos, so adding my other pincushions and items I've made will have to wait until tomorrow.

Take care, friends! Good night!

Woo-hoo!

2010-08-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy lately, so I've been slacking on updating, friends! But I will have some big updates coming up. For now, some news:

I've had two sales this week. Awesome! One of the buyers was awesome blogger-friend Kim, who sells lovely jewelry. I'm expecting some adorable owl earrings in the mail next week from her. :)

Items sold:

I hope they will be enjoyed. :)

I'm planning on updating Etsy this weekend. I want to make pencil cases for back to school shoppers, as school is around the corner, so expect some of those soon!

In other news, my nyokki is growing big and strong! Its grass hair is full length now. Adorably enough, it has one white blade of grass, like a little grey hair, which is funny because I always have one grey hair and always have since I was a child! Cute!

I've been getting back into my exercise routines. Since it's still a bit too hot for running, I'm starting the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I really like it. It made me sweat and I felt the burn, but it wasn't a death burn, like a lot of people felt when they first started. I'm still a bit sore, two days after, but not terribly so. Gonna do it again later, after I ship out my most recent sale and get some Saturday chores done. Wish me luck. ;)

Take care, friends, and thanks for all of your patronage, buyers!

Kyoto Summer

2010-08-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

I've been making some lovely crafts out of that beautiful fabric I bought in Kiteya SOHO over the weekend. Take a look!

It reminds me of kimono fabric. :)

---

In other news, my Nyokki is already sprouting grass hair! Woo-hoo!

Day Trip Conclusion

2010-07-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

I am dead exhausted from my day trip, but I want to blog about it while it is all still fresh in mind. I had forgotten my headphones for my iPhone, so instead of listening to music, I drew up some designs and wrote up a rough draft of my blog post. Hope you enjoy!

---

First things first, I must say - I'm usually very good with directions. This, combined with the Google Maps on my iPhone, made an amazing combination. Only problem was that I had written down the old address for Purl SOHO, my first destination, so I was put way off my travel path. I'm still not sure how it took me so long to realize that I had messed up on the address, considering the fact that I wasn't in SOHO and I was looking for Purl SOHO... I had a dumb moment!

I ended up walking several more miles than I planned, so I'm really tired! Still though, I was intent on walking downtown, since I've not been getting enough exercise lately. I was running 3 times a week before the New York heatwave of death that lasted over a month, so having the first weekend under 90 degrees in weeks meant that I had to walk as much as possible!

Being put off my path and getting slightly lost was a good thing though. I ended up finding a delicious Mexican restaurant called Mary Anne's in the East Village. It got some really horrible review on YELP, which was surprisingly, since I adored it. Amazing burrito, I really liked the salsa dip, and you can't beat $8 for a meal, can you? Then again, I'm not a foodie and I'm not a very picky eater, so...


I think this is an old photo - it looks much cuter now. Very al fresco, tables outside, super bright!

Anyway, on to reviewing the shops!

Toy Tokyo

In the heart of the East Village, Toy Tokyo was my first destination on my list of Japanese toy and craft shops to visit. How did it measure up?

Pros - Huge selection of figurines and "blind box" Japanese toys for reasonable prices "Blind Box" toys are collectible toys in which you don't know which collectible you have inside until after you buy! Surprise! I bought an Owlet Blind Box there. I got the owl I wanted. Cute!


Hoo is taking a photo of me?!

Cons - The staff was very unfriendly. Holier-than-thou hipsters that act like your asking them a question is obnoxious. I didn't like that very much. I took my owl and left pretty quick. :(

Overall, I guess a rating of 2. It would have been much higher if staff was helpful! At least I got my cute Owlet!

Giant Robot NY

Giant Robot NY is one of three stores in the US run by this Asian Magazine/Store Chain. It's the only Giant Robot on the East Coast. There is one in LA and one in SF, so I was pleased to find out there was one in New York! This store wasn't too far from Toy Tokyo. It was on the other sided of the East Village.

Pros: Walking into the shop, the front is a gallery of various asian themed indie art. Very cool. Walking toward the back is when you see the selection of Japanese crafts and toys. It looks small, but there is a huge selection of so many different things. Ceramic mugs, t-shirts, bags, office supplies, stationary, origami paper, planters, you name it, they had it! Bonus points for having pretty much everything they had listed on their online shop, as well.


Can't wait to bring this to work!

It was a really cool shop. Nice and quiet, too. I'm a bit claustrophobic, so I really don't like when I feel surrounded and closed in a shop. They store had a bunch of really cool planters, such as the taterpot and Egglings, for the same price as the store online, except you don't have to pay out of your butt for shipping! Yay! Plus points for the fact that the man running the store was very helpful and cool, without being overbearing. I felt comfortable browsing, and browse I did. For a half hour! I was in heaven.


Seed refills for my taterpot!

Cons - Honestly, my only con was the price of certain items. A lot of Japanese craft good are terribly overpriced because of the hype about them. That aside, though, Giant Robot NY was super awesome. Highly recommended. I bet the ones in California are even bigger and better!


This Shinzi Katoh mug was a little pricy, I couldn't not buy it. It is ADORABLE.

purl SOHO

I finally found it, after getting lost twice! Not only did I mess up the address on my iPhone's GPS and get lost in Greenwich Village, but I had a moment of dyslexia and looked for 495 Broome street, as opposed to 459, as you can see in the picture to the left. D'oh! The heat was getting to me!

Pros - Oh my gosh. The photos I posted in the previous blog entry were entirely accurate. This shop is color heaven. It was such a beautiful and bright shop, with lots of happy crafters knitting and sewing away inside.

The staff was extremely helpful. They were so sweet, they even directed me to the subway, because my iPhone ran out of batteries and I couldn't use my GPS hax to find my way to one.

This one isn't relevant to the sewers, but they had an enormous selection of yarn skeins. Lots of bright colors, and it looks like they had all different kinds of textures and types.

The fabric I bought was really beautiful. I bought a yard of Matryoshka Japanese Import fabric, for my Etsy shop's crafts. The picture isn't terribly good, because it was dark by the time I got around to taking these, but you can see how cute it is, regardless! Love the colors and line drawing sketchiness to the designs. :)

Cons - The only two cons I have are the fact that there was less fabric selection that I thought there would be, especially compared to the website, and the fact that the yard of Japanese import fabric ended up being more expensive that I could buy online, even after paying for shipping. Otherwise, purl SOHO was an amazing shop. I'd think it'd be absolute heaven for any crochet/knitting crafters out there.

And finally, my last shop to review...

Kiteya SOHO

Oh my ... this must be... JAPANESE HEAVEN!!!!

I got this really beautiful cotton fabric for only $6! Wowza!

Imagine a shop in the middle of downtown that makes you feel as if you stepped into Japan. This is Kiteya SOHO. It is located in the heart of New York's "Little Tokyo" block, right near a Japanese speciality market that sold really yummy drinks.

Pros - Super friendly staff. Seriously, they could not have been more helpful and friendly. They rushed over right away and directed me to exactly what I wanted (ie: cotton fabrics)

This shop was so gorgeous and had such a huge selection of Japanese crafts and goods, with a wide range of price points, so that anyone walking in their could find something within their budget.

Bonus points: I actually was able to speak a bit of Japanese while I was here. :) That was fun. I think the staff got a kick out of my really enthusiastic "ARGIATOU GOZAIMASU!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥"

Cons - I couldn't stay in this shop forever. :(

And that, my friends, is the end! I'm going to play with the goodies I bought now. I'll be sure to post the crafts I make this weekend as soon as possible. I wish you all a wonderful night! ♥

Saturday Fun

2010-07-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am planning a fun day trip. I am going to see all of the sites of Manhattan's unofficial "Little Tokyo" - lots of shopping, eating, photos, and good fun! I bet I'll find a lot of planters, like my Nyokki and Taterpot.

This store front shouts "Come in, Jess!" :)

I also plan to pop into some of the fabric stories that I was advise to look into, such as purl SOHO and Mood Fabrics. purl SOHO sounds especially wonderful, because they have a huge shop that sells lots of felt, Japanese fabric, and all sorts of things I tend to have to have imported. That gets very expensive after a while, so it would be nice to find a place nearby... Let's hope I find lots of lovely things to review and take photos of!

These colors! I'm in heaven!

I'll let you in on a secret - I want to find very cute fabrics for hand felting and embroidery. I want to start embroidering cute original designs onto my pouches. I've been sketching some designs in my notebook. I'd love to show you them as soon as they're done.

Take care, friends! ♥

Stuffed full of LOVE

2010-07-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

I've been focusing on making enough pouches and bags for my Etsy Showcase day. Once this is over though, I want to stock my Etsy with some things that I really love to make - stuffies!

The first few times I made them, I sewed them all by hand, because I was living in England at the time, and didn't have my sewing machine. It was my first foray in the real world of hand stitching, and while I don't think I'm great at it still, I'm certainly better and neater than I used to be! My first project was a little bear and it was kind of insane looking, though I suppose somewhat cute! I named her Coconut Creme.

One of my favorite things to sew are octopodes (the plural of octopus - it's not actually octopi!). I learned how to make them through the excellent free pattern by futuregirl crafts, one of my favorite crafters out there. She's multi-talented, and friendly!

Very cute, huh? Thank you so much for the tutorial, futuregirl!

This is the one I made. My cute octopus, Squirt Jr, guards over my Lucky Bamboo and my money stash in my Japanese Piggy Bank! Try to steal, and you'll be sooooorry.

The one issue with free patterns of this nature is that, naturally, you can't sell items created from them since it's not your original design. So I've been making some original patterns of my own stuffies on my free time. Right now, my most successful original creation is a snail. A paisley pillow snail named Zon.

Say hello to Zon, friends! I love this little guy. I'm going to be creating more like him and I think I shall put them up as Etsy stock.

I also am looking to make a free photo tutorial so everyone can make their own!

My question is: Do you like him without eyes, or should I sew little buttons on the top of his eye stalks? :)

Take care, readers!

Etsy Showcase

2010-07-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have a quick announcement, friends! I'm going to be in the Etsy "Bags and Purses" showcase tomorrow, the 29th of July.

http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php

(From there, go to the drop down menu and find the "Bags and Purses" category. I will be there tomorrow!)

Be sure to check my items out there! I appreciate all of your support so very much.

Craft Fairs

2010-07-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

I've been researching craft fairs recently. I'm interesting in trying my first craft fair in a few months. Seeing really amazing fairs such as the Renegade Craft Fair, really inspires me and makes me want to go out there and try a small craft fair. Even if I don't make sales, I'd have fun.

I love everything I see here!

However, as I research, I'm having trouble finding small local fairs, especially ones that are reasonably priced. For my first fair, I don't want to spend $300 for a table when I may not make one sale, especially considering that I have many relatively cheap items, as opposed to more expensive items that would cover the table price after a few sales.

I'm a little nervous to put myself out there. I am concerned that my items aren't unique enough. They're just sewn pouches, is what I've been told on Etsy before. I do feel like they are unique though, in the kind of Japanese aesthetic and funkiness I strive for. I suppose I just need to believe in myself!

So, dear readers, do you have any advice for a good first craft fair experience? :)

A friend with squeeee is a friend indeed.

2010-07-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow craft/blogger, Plum, just made a really awesome and cute update on her craft loots that she found in various craft fairs and market places. It's too cute!

Are you ready for this?

Quick update

2010-07-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! I've been so busy lately. Besides work this week, I spent this week working on new crafts, taking new stock photos, and I was away visiting my cousin for her birthday. I got everything on my list (I'm a compulsive list maker) done... except rest! I've been fighting off strep throat for about a month, so while I'm no longer sick and I'm off my antibiotics as of today, my body is just absolutely bone tired because I've not really allowed myself any time to rest. Busy busy. *exhaustion* ;__;

I'm just going to show you some nice new things I've bought recently, along with a few new crafts I've made. I'm make a real proper update sometime soon about something that has been on my mind - namely, craft fairs, and whether I should attempt one or not.

Too cute! My sproutlings are doing real well. They're getting biiiiiig!

The newest addition - Taterpot by Eggling. You should check out their stuff, it is SUPER adorable. I really want it alllll. *pout*

This little guy will sprout some delicious EDIBLE oregano soon, so I'll have some garnish for my pasta.

But not yet. I'm still waiting for LIFE!

I bought a nice purse frame on Etsy. I've bought some in the past because I am infatuated with coin purses, but I couldn't sell any because they were the glue-on kind of purse frames, and it just became disgusting and messy as the glue got all over the fabric.

So instead, I will try the sew on kind! Cross your fingers! I might have a nice adorable coin purse up soon for you all. A question to the readers: do you prefer the kind with the reinforced square bottoms that stand up, or do you like the round ones? I prefer round when it comes to tiny coin purses, personally, but I want to make sure as I'll be selling these, not keeping them! ;)

Goodnight, loyal readers!

Success!

2010-07-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends. I couldn't resist making a quick blog entry before heading off to work, because just last night, I made my first sale! Double sale, in fact! My lovely pincushions!

I am so happy to finally make a sale. I cannot wait to ship out these wonderful items as soon as the post office is open.

Thank you so much, to my first customer, coffeegrl! She sells some really cute vintage items, you should give her shop a look. :)

Have a good day, all of my readers!

sniff // Fabric Love

2010-07-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

As someone who suffers allergies (though oddly enough, it varies by the year; some summers I need to take allergy medication every day or else I'm a mess and other summers I'm good except for an occasional bad day), I try to always carry tissues in my purse. Before I discovered the joys of tissue holders, I'd have the constant frustration of my tissues being all messed up in my bag and coming loose and such. But now, no troubles! So I ♥ tissue holders.

They're fun to make as well. I just made one out of the most adorable owl fabric I received in the mail this morning. I'm a bit of an owl fanatic and I needed some Japanese import fabric for my Etsy site, so when I saw an entire YARD fabric of import owl fabric for only $9.50 (keep in mind, some of the yards of fabric in just an average fabric store like Joann's can range up to $12/yard), I pounced on it. I'm very glad I did, because this fabric arrived astonishingly fast. I don't think I ever received fabric from California so fast, considering that I live in New York.

(Three cheers for luckykaerufabric's super fast shipping and their adorable fabric!)

Back on the topic of tissue holders - I just made one out of this fantastic owl fabric. I'll try to list it on Etsy tomorrow, along with any others I make. What I need is an adorable set of purse tissues to use in my product photographs - and I know just the kind I'm going to get!

Forever 21 is one of my favorite stores - cheap prices, great fashion, adorable sun dresses. They also sell adorable tissues - the cutest of which are the Hello Kitty Sniff tissues.

I can't get over how cute these are. Let's hope I'm able to set these aside for future products photographs. I wouldn't be surprised if I just used them anyway. ;)

Goodnight, all of my loyal readers!

Buttons // Need Advice

2010-07-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

I love sewing buttons. It's one of those things I consider myself to have a talent in. I especially love big bright colorful buttons - like the ones I sewed onto my new pincushions. They're complete!

I'd like to also ask for advice - how do you personally set up your light box? I thought my pictures were plenty bright, at least they were for my tastes in aesthetics, but when I ask for critiques on Etsy, they tend to be called too dark. I think it's about time for a liiiightboooox! So help me out, dear readers!

And remember - if you like what you see, or are interested in even being my FIRST CUSTOMER, you can check them out more on Etsy. :) Goodnight loves.

PS: In case you were wondering, my chamomile boot sproutlings are flourishing~

Piggy bank

2010-07-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

I really adore piggy banks, but I never had one as a child. When I was young, I lived in Queens, NY, and the custom there was to have a big 10 gallon jug that you threw change into. I loved to tip it over and count the money over and over when I was bored. I was kind of a weird kid. I also liked to put slices of cheese on the radiator and watch it get hard in the winter when the heat was on - that should paint you an illustration of the kind of kid I was.

I bought my first piggy bank a few months ago. It was a total steal - it was only a dollar at, you guessed it, Dollar Tree! It's super cute. I've been saving diligently and within only a few months, I managed to save up...............

*drum roll*

$24.06

Not bad, huh? Let's hope I can keep up this saving momentum!

Pincushions

2010-07-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. :) When I wasn't relaxing in the pool today and having coffee indulgences, I was hard at work on my Etsy stock. My weekend goal was to have 10 items ready for Etsy - and I actually achieved it! This is monumental, as my general attitude towards my weekend goals is something akin to:

But not this time. I not only bought a new bookshelf and reorganized my entire library, which was my first weekend goal, but I made my 10th item just a few minutes ago. So with no further ado, enjoy some photos of my new stock!

And what is this? Two pincushions, nearly finished. All they need is a big cute button to complete them and give them that pincushion shape. :) I'll have those up on Etsy soon.

For those more observant readers out there, you probably realized that the fabric used in these pincushions was VERY familiar... that's because I save up all of my scraps, and whatever is big enough, I recycle either for making little bows, or pincushions. I try not to put any fabric to waste!

If you want to see more, check out my Etsy @ Shizuka Urusai!

Have a wonderful night, loves.

Life is a craft project

2010-07-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

I've not been able to update much this weekend; I've been busy at work between trying to create new stock for Etsy, taking photographs, and setting up my new bookshelf.

One of my majors in college is English, so naturally I'm a book worm. Today, I bought a new bookcase to fit my library, and I sorted out which books I would donate. I have two crate fulls of books to donate to the charity thrift shop and the library, yet I still was just able to get all of my books to fit in my new super tall bookshelf!

(And this is after donating a bunch of books!)

I alphabetized by author, then by titles within the author, and then chronologically for any series. I also sorted out my hobby books. My inner OCD tiger is curled up and purring with contentedness.

Another nice thing happened today. I've gotten my first chamomile sproutlings! I was so excited and surprised I ran around the house showing everyone, shouting "FIRST LIFE! FIIIIRST LIIIIIFE!!!"

(FIRST LIFE!!!)

A very productive weekend, indeed! I'll have my new Etsy stock and photos up tomorrow, for those who are interested. Hope you're having a good weekend too, out there! :)

Twinkie Chan!!!

2010-07-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Twinkie Chan is one of my crafting heroes. I seriously admire her ethics to quality handcrafting as well as her eye for color!

So when I heard her friend is doing a giveaway, my heart skipped a beat. I have never won a thing in my life, so winning hair product via Twinkie Chan would be a double-kill of fantastic. Here goes nothing. Cross your fingers for me, kiddos!

http://www.twinkiechan.com/blog/2010/07/15/juju-chan-giveaway

Summer in the city // Shop until you drop!

2010-07-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

Being so busy working this summer, I've been neglecting to travel around lately. While I don't live within Manhattan, I live close enough that a train ride in is relatively short and cheap. I used to make many day trips, but I haven't in quite a while.

After having so many of the independent fabric shops in the area close down and being unable to find any other ones nearby, I decided I'd research into really nice indie fabric shops in Manhattan, particularly ones that do import Japanese fabric and vintage buttons and such. Keep on the look out for a blog post in the future with a bunch of shops I've found. I'll go to each one and make a big shopping trip of it all! I'll review all of the shops, for any other New York crafters out there reading.

On the topic of shopping, I've been all over Etsy lately, and I've found a few really enchanting shops that I feel like linking to. Some of these shops are having July sales, so be sure to order anything that catches your eye!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeaUnicorn

(Gorgeous photography, sensual jewelry, great prices. Triple win! I've not founder a nicer vintage jewelry Etsy shop yet.)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/hooraydesignshop

(I'm a huge lover of paper craft and anything related to stationary & mailing. I love this shop)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littleapplecrafts

(Probably the cutest Etsy shop of all time. Full of kawaii supplies, stationary, stickers, etc. I've bought from them multiple times.)

I'll end this with a request for any links or names of nice fabric stores within Manhattan from the readers. Thanks for any information, loves. :)

Bliss is...

2010-07-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Bliss is...

♥ Sewing a new zipper pouch in your favorite fabric and having it come out perfectly.

♥ Atlantic Coast Thunderstorms

♥ Green Tea with lemon wedge.

♥ Finding a wonderful new read. I like manga, but I've never been as taken with a graphic novel as I have been with Solanin. A real tearjerker. It gave me goosebumps quite a few times.

♥ Receiving small treats in the mail. Today I received a tiny yellow rainboot planter that I can grow chamomile in and a book on how to make yummy healthy bento boxes. It brightened my day. I can't wait for my plant to grow! It's for people who aren't gifted with green thumbs and are just learning how to care for plants. I have been spritzing it with water very attentively, like the instructions say. As soon as it germinates, I'll put it in a sunny spots!

(Expect some posts of my bento boxes soon. Bento is crafting, kinda... right?!)

♥ Eating super sweet overipe plums and having the fruit juice all over your face and hands.

♥ Having a friend make you a super cute blog header when you have a graphic art block. Thank you, Monda! Be sure to check out her amazing Strawberry Time blog. Strawberries are bliss too, you know.

Let's all be grateful and happy for our bliss today.

Requiem for a Seam

2010-07-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

In this economy, it's not at all uncommon to see those "Building For Rent" signs. They seem to spread like a plague, outside of shops and stores that you were just in a few days ago. It's a really sad thing. It's particularly sad when you have an emotional connection to said businesses.

Two businesses related to crafting and sewing were just closed down in my area. One was a tailoring business, run by a sweet talented Persian gentleman, who had a beautiful sewing station full of a rainbow of wooden spools of thread, ones that remind me of my grandmother's vintage wooden spools from her days as a seamstress in Italy.

While I love to sew and I'm always looking for challenges to improve my skills, I hesitate bringing the scissors to a beautiful expensive new maxi dress that needs to be hemmed, especially as I don't have a large enough sewing station to really make large cuts to big pieces of fabric and clothing, so I defer those types of repairs and alterations to the professionals.

(Fun Fact: I'm only 5'0" so tailoring and hemming is practically my middle name, since even petite ranges of clothing can be too long for me)

He always made beautiful alterations to my clothes, so I was very sad to see that horrible "For Rent" sign in the windows of his empty premises.

Another sad blow to the sewing scene in the area was the shut down a wonderful and adorable independent quilting shop. I had a real emotional connection with this shop - it was the first place I had ever went to buy fabric. I went in with my first pattern, clueless and new to the world of sewing, after just receiving my first sewing machine. The owner of the shop was a wonderful and sweet woman, and she helped me out to find the right kind of fabric, determine the proper yardage, and other such things.

Her store was so warm spirited and full of quilters who were working on projects together, waiting for them next class to begin on the hour. They all smiled to see a young girl learning to sew, and gave some advice on what to do with the pattern, all of which utterly confused me at the time as I knew not one thing about sewing.

A few months ago, the store was downsized to help with the costs during the recession, and I could tell it was quite the blow to the owner. Her beautiful bustling shop was cut to a quarter of the size it was, and there was no longer room for classes or people to work on projects together inside. It was upsetting to see.

Just a few weeks ago, while going out for an emergency run for needles, after having broken my last one being careless while sewing a zipper (a bad sewing habit of mine!), I discovered the entire shop was gone. The windows were whited out, and everything was gone. It was just a shell of the former beautiful sewing shop that was my first step into the crafting world, and it really bothered me.

It seems like every independent crafting shop is dissappearing these days. The first time I've seen one in a while was just last week, while I was in England to visit the boyfriend. There was a small one in a shopping arcade in Leicester, and it was delightful to see. They sold all sorts of things, even purse frames, which are impossible for me to find in the US - I always have to buy those online in bulk from Asia.

Instead of sulking though, once I finish this post, I'm going to make a conscious effort to try to find at least o ne independent crafting shops in the area and frequent them. If I can support this shop, even just to buy small purchases from them, instead of always shopping at local JoAnns for everything, I'll feel like I'm contributing to the crafting culture.

This is a challenge I'd recommend to all of my readers. I'll end this blog entry with a question to the commenters: Have you had a similar experience with a beloved independent craft shop?

Handbag Success!

2010-07-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

, HWe all have our failure stories, especially crafting failure stories. Working painstakingly only to discover you have your fabric turned backwards.... sewing over the gap you clearly marked to leave open to turn your bag... getting glue all when you're making that coin purse out of your favorite fabric and purse frame. I have entirely too many those.

But this post isn't about that! It's about my success! Heehee!

I think this is the first time I've tried out a new project without making any mistakes. I'm actually proud about this handbag, showing it off to everyone. You know what this means...

Seamstress skill level up!

I can't take all of the credit for that, though. A clear, colorful tutorial with lots of photos can really make the difference between craft success and that lumpy frankenstein craft project that you hide in your closet, and this fat quarter handbag tutorial was definitely quality. Thank you for the wonderful tutorial!

I'll conclude this post with some photos of the bag I made.

Hope you enjoy!

Tonight, I dine on bobbin soup // An introduction

2010-07-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog, so I suppose an introduction post is in order.

The girl behind the blog:

Name: Jessica
Age: 20
Profession: Student in the fall/spring and I work as a part-time computer wench in an office all other times of the year.
Vices: Starbucks & Arnold Palmer iced teas. Liquid calories are the devil.

+

(Harmony, harmony, oh love~)

Hates: Feeling too sweaty on a hot day and when I drop my winded bobbins.

I'm cultivating a theory that bobbins have some type of attraction with the floor, specifically the darkest, most difficult and out of the way part of the floor. Because this happens at least once during every major craft project I have.

The boyfriend read a news article online recently in which scientists outlined a discovery that if left alone, headphone wires, specifically the earbug kinds one uses with mp3 players, actually do tangle themselves up. This is really disconcerting to those with OCD who must constantly untangle their headphones. They're waging war on us.

So if headphones will sabotage themselves, is it really so unlikely that bobbins take a page out of the lemmings handbook and jump off my table of their own volition?

I think not.

(Beautiful bobbin photograph from this wonderful craft blog, Crackers and Honey. Admire the cuteness. Admire it, I say!)

Winded bobbins also have a way with tangling up with loose threads that I snip as I sew. I make a conscious effort to put my bobbins somewhere separate and safe, to prevent their leaps of death to the floor, but they somehow always get tangled and messy. If someone had told me before I started sewing that I would spend every day vacuuming my floor and sewing station, I'd probably have returned my sewing machine to the shop.

But alas, I've been bitten by the crafting bug and it's a sickness that's here to stay. At least I'll always have blogging material.

Check back later; I'll have an image post up of some of my newest creations. Thanks for reading, loves!

Shizuka Urusai Craft Blog // Pouches & Pincushions

Branding

Trying new things

Lovely kits

Embroidery Love

Happy Holidays

Wow!

Lightbox

Stocking Stuffer Sale

New Style

Growing

What's new, pussycat? Woaoaoaoaaaah.

Express Edit for Etsy Users

Business

New York Anime Festival

Analytics Basics for the Etsy Newb.

New Listings 10/2 // Fabric Labels

Fabric Love

Success!

Welcome to Fall Sale

eReader Pouches

Try, try, try again

Bouncing around ideas.

Shizuka Urusai loves PINCUSHIONS

Craft Fair

Shizuka Urusai loves the seedlings

The social networking bug has bitten!

Rainy Time

Supplies are fun!

Tomorrow is the Craft Fair!

Sewing Station!

Autumn Season Questions

Treasury Feature 9/3

New Listings for 9/3

New Listing 8/28 // On retaking Etsy item photos

Sproutlings

New Listings for 8/26

Art Shark Designs, Inking, and Stamps

More on the craft fair

☆ 20 tissue holders

☆ 10 pin cushions

I'm not dead!

Supplies

Craft Fairs & Pincushions

On a roll!

☆ Drove over 150 miles

★ Made a pencil case made of a soft Japanese import cotton gauze

☆ Upcycled a cute-but-crooked pouch made of lovely Japanese import fabric into a cute not crooked pincushion!

★ Did day four of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

☆ Did the laundry. Oh yeah!

Fun in the mail

Buttons & Technique

Woo-hoo!

Kyoto Summer

Day Trip Conclusion

Saturday Fun

Stuffed full of LOVE

Etsy Showcase

Craft Fairs

A friend with squeeee is a friend indeed.

Quick update

Success!

*sniff* // Fabric Love

Buttons // Need Advice

Piggy bank

Pincushions

Life is a craft project

Twinkie Chan!!!

Summer in the city // Shop until you drop!

Bliss is...

Requiem for a Seam

Handbag Success!

Tonight, I dine on bobbin soup // An introduction

sniff // Fabric Love