Saturday 25 June 2016

SUMMER SALE 2016!!

To mark my starting a new life in Tokyo, I decided to give a special offer this summer. Yaaay, isn't that exciting?

This special offer is FREE SHIPPING. Really? Free shipping? Yep, you got it right. Free shipping worldwide. This free shipping is valid for CROCHET EARRINGS. So if you buy a crocheted earrings in my shop, the shipping cost is zero. No need to pay for the shipping. Just enter this coupon code: SUMMERSALE2016 when you check out.


Why only crocheted earrings? Well, summer is here and these earrings will look great for summer themed wear. So, I'd like to make your summer special!

Check out these awesome earrings and see if any of these go with your summer clothes.
These crocheted earrings have been hand-made by me with love and careful details. Some of the flowers were hand-dyed by me. Especially the roses and orchid.

I will make more crochet earrings and if I can finish and list them on Etsy before 31st of July, FREE SHIPPING offer applies too as long as the purchase is made before 31st of July. To find out the details about these earrings click here

Happy summer time, everyone!


Wednesday 22 June 2016

Around Our Apartment

As I wrote in my previous blog post that hubby and I had moved back to Tokyo after having lived in Kurayoshi city in Tottori prefecture.

Our apartment is certainly smaller than our house in Kurayoshi. We have a smaller kitchen (about a third of the size of the previous kitchen). And the apartment consists of 3 rooms, a bathroom and a toilet (both are smaller of course). Our apartment is on the 5th floor! Yep, we have to do some serious exercise going up and down the stairs. Phew! I sweat a lot every time I get home. Especially now that it's summer time.

Despite all of those, we have quite green neighborhood. Surprisingly in Tokyo, you can still find green residential areas like ours. Lots of trees. Mostly ginkgo trees. Also there are small plots of land where residents who like gardening can plant flowers. Supermarkets are near and can be reached within 5 minute walk. The post office is also almost of the same distance, or a bit less than 5 minute walk, which is great for my business. I can ship order faster. Streets are paved. I like paved streets. There are some playgrounds for kids to play.

To catch the train that goes to the heart of Tokyo, I must take a bus to Kokubunji station and from there I can catch Chuo Line that go through Tokyo. So our apartment is located quite nicely and convenient.








We've Moved!

Hello there!

It's been ages since my last post. There's so much happening. In short, my husband and I moved to Tokyo last May.

Well, we had been talking and discussing about moving back to Tokyo for months. It's not that we didn't like living in Kurayoshi, but it seems Japan's rural areas are ideal only for a short stay like when you need an escape from everyday routine of city life, enjoying nature and just having a relaxing time. It's tranquil and calm. But not for living and working. Especially if you are a self-employed trying to start a new life from zero, or if you don't drive and highly depend on public transports to get around. First of all, starting a business for a tiny business like my husband and I do, there's definitely no market due to very small population (e.g. Kurayoshi has about 50,000 people). Secondly, I don't drive so I almost completely depended on my husband to drive me to craft supply shops or supermarket. It was quite frustrating to me not able to get around easily. I'm used to taking public transports such bus or train. In short, we were afraid that we wouldn't survive in the countryside.

It was a huge decision because we didn't want to leave our parents (my husband's parents alone). The concern was that if they needed help, we would be too far. However, living nearby without income was not good either. We would depend on our parents financially because our income was not enough to support us. So after a lot of discussions with them, all of us including our parents agreed that the only solution was to move back to Tokyo.

During Golden Week in May, my husband and I went to Tokyo on apartment hunting. It was quite an exhausting trip. For three days non stop we checked out apartments in outskirt of Tokyo. We were aiming at those areas because the rent is still affordable. Fortunately we found one. It was within our budget and not too small but not too big either.

Right after we'd come back to Kurayoshi, we began packing. We'd thought 3 week time we had was enough. But no. There's incredibly so much to sorted out and packed. We decided to leave lots of stuff in parents' house because no way it could fit in our small apartment We were super busy. We almost didn't have time to tell some people we knew in Kurayoshi that we would move.

Things have calmed down now that we got through the hectic process of moving. But my sinus seems to take a long time to recover. I have had this problem since the apartmen hunting in early May until now. I guess I was too stressed out with the moving that my sinus began to act out. So it's been almost 2 months. About a week ago I decided to take up yoga again after almost 6 years not doing it. Just surya namaskar and some poses that help me fighting this problem. My sinus is not going aways completely yet but it's improving. I hope it goes away soon. Will do yoga more regularly now. It really works!

Anyway, my husband and I hope that our moving gives us more opportunity to make a living as self-employed people. We hope our businesses become bigger and more stable and able to support our lives. Wish us luck!