My workshop 3 months later

ADSC01806, originally uploaded by tomi&tree.

I promised to show the progress of my workshop after it was first created in February. Now here it is with all kinds of yummy treasures spreading out all over the table and shelfs, and drawers of drawers of beads and supplies.
Across from my table I can see a big oak tree from the window. That is the best part of this workshop.

Berkeley Earth Day

ADSC01701, originally uploaded by tomi&tree.

I am so slow blogging about my daily life. Back in late April, I did my first outdoor craft fair this year in Berkeley. Sort of a kick off to a series fairs that I am going to do in 2009. The photos show my new display with Sempe' s illustration as a background to showcase my major pieces. It happens that Dalai Lama was there to give a speech in the neighborhood and I got to see him in distance! How exciting.

Busy March - Part II

This happened almost at the same time as "Sora Designs Historical Day". The store manager at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco convoed me about carrying my pieces at the museum store in downtown San Francisco. How did she find me? She bought my Sunny Skies Ahead necklace in orange in February and the staff loved it so much. She wanted my items in the store in time for the opening reception of their new installment "Inside/Outside-- Artist Environment" so again I sweatshop for a whole weekend. This is exactly why I named my blog title "Busy March". I was up early every morning so I could finish a couple items before I left for work for 2 straight weeks. I still managed to pick up Tomi on time and cooked dinner every night though (well, almost every nights :-) ) Of course I couldn't do this without the support from Harlen, my photographer and "significant others" (see how I think of him as photographer first and partner 2nd, man, I was so addicted to my Etsy shop now.....)

Sunny Skies Ahead Necklace in Orange beaded flower - the necklace that got me into the Museum Store

All these 5 items are "MINE". They take charge of the whole display window.

First Light Necklace was also featured in the Museum Store

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Alley of Imagination Necklace - the most popular item-- 3 has been sold at the Museum in less than one month.

"Artist's name tag" I did not make this whole thing up. My name is in the display window. Though I wish they could show "Sora Designs" on the name tag too......

The night at the opening reception of the new installement and Sora Designs' debute at the MOCFA museum store.

Link to MOCFA : http://www.mocfa.org

Busy March -Part I

A week after my record sale at the Noise Pop N' Shop event in San Francisco, one of my items was featured at Etsy's "Etsy Finds: Weekend Deals, Jewelry Fit for Spring " posting on March 6th. It was really something to be featured in a posting that was going out to millions of people (okay, maybe not millions, but it's almost there). My shop was being viewed about 2444 times in a single day and I had a total of 102 sales during that whole weekend. I spent that Friday just re-listing and responding to convos then spent another couple hours just printing out a stack of orders and shipping labels (BTW, I took a Personal Day off that Friday without knowing that my item would be featured). It's very encouraging to know that so many people recognize my designs and craftsmanship.





This is the ring that got featured at the "Etsy Finds: Jewelry Fit for Spring ". Still available at shop now for $18

Here is the link to the original posting.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-weekend-deals-jewelry-fit-for-spring-3519/




A screen shot of the Google Analytics showing a huge spike in number of views on March 6th. A historical day for Sora Designs.

My New Studio

Possibilities are as open as the sky.... I will be dreaming, designing, creating, playing in this new space. It took Harlen 3 weekends (one weekend is for design and shop for the materials, the other 2 weekends are dedicated to lots of drilling and assembling). Tomi is just as thrilled as I am when we are working/playing in our new space. I sure will spend lots of time here in 2009.

Tasting Umeshu

I have been waiting for this day forever. Sometimes I would take a peek in the storage room. But most of the times I actually forgot about it. I am talking about the umeshu (plum liqueur) that I made this spring. Here I am showing the before and after photos. I am showing the one made with vodka and I have another jar made with whisky. I like vodka better. It's super delicious. I will take a sip every night after bath. (yeah, kinda like a Japanese shufu after a day's work.... tired). No, I am not drinking it in the closet. I am gonna remember to buy more plums next year.

Wild Birds Flock to Me

ADSC02214, originally uploaded by tomi&tree.

this is how I got started. I was making birthday card for my friend with bird motif. She really liked it and encouraged me to make more and sell them. I made about 50 of them for my first street fairs. I sold 5! Obviously it is not the most popular items. I still like the designs though. Each card looks the same yet they are all different. I hand cut each bird from the past issues of Anthropologie catalogs (yes I collect the catalogs. they are so pretty). Then I arrange the birds based on their patterns and color on the card. I also hand carved a stamp (inkan in Japanese) in Kanji characters "SKY" (my shop's name) so I can stamp it on each card.

I am more thrilled when people bought the cards than when people bought the jewelry. Maybe I will use them for a wall art so I can look at them everyday.