Custom Order Crochet Earrings

I'd been busy with restructuring my shop that I forgot to write about a recent custom order I'd made.

Some weeks ago I got a message in my Etsy inbox from a lady. She said she loved my crochet earrings. She'd had already seven pairs of my crochet earrings! And this time she asked me if I could make a custom order crochet earrings. She liked one pair of earrings on my shop, but she wanted to have something like those in different colors.

I was a bit unsure about her choice of colors, but I went on making her order anyway. And it turned out to be very nice! I was quite surprised myself. When I showed her the picture, she was very happy, which made me even happier!

These are the crochet earrings I made for her.

These earrings were made based on my previous design. But she wanted me to add pink beads. The original don't have beads.

From Jagatara Art To HandcrafKu

I should have announced this earlier on my blog - I decided to change my shop name.

I had been thinking of changing my etsy shop name, I mean the shop that sells my handmade items. The thing is that Jagatara Art is too long and not easy to pronounce. I'd met some friends who had difficulties pronouncing it. Therefore, it's not easy to remember.

I used some busines name generator to help me with ideas. One actually helped me get one. The name that came up was HandcraftMe. I loved that name! So I proposed the name to etsy but it said the name was not available. I was a bit disappointed. But I kept thinking and thinking and I came up with HandcraftKu. Basically I just changed the syllable Me with Ku. Ku here means my in Indonesian language. So HandcraftKu means My Handcraft.

Not only a new name, I decided to have an icon or sort of a brand for my product. I'm not good at drawing to be honest (you should see my sketches when I'm designing my tsumami zaiku). Luckily, there are tons of online photo editors that dummies like me can use. I use picmonkey to design an icon for my shop.
I chose a cute flower to say that all my works have flowers on them or have flower theme.

This is my new shop name and icon.

But my other shop that sells vintage and supplies keeps its old name, because I think the name suits the content of the shop.

A Summer's Ramble and Fresh Spring Rolls

It's the beginning of July and I can feel the humid and hot air that I really dread.. As I may have written before how I hate summer in Japan some time ago, this time is no difference. More ramble and perhaps the same things. So forgive me for writing almost the same thing. Need to let go of this summer's heat.

Many Japanese I've met often ask "How do you manage to hold up in winter?", "Are you okay with winter?" and never ask "How do you survive summer?" for example. They seem to think that since I come from Indonesia, summer shouldn't be a problem to me.

Well, first of all the idea that all areas in Indonesia is hot is not true. Depending on the region. I come from Bandung, a city located over 700 meters above sea level. It's not too hot and not too cold. The average temperature is 23.6 °C (according to Wikipedia, which I think is quite accurate except for the fact that Bandung is not as cool as it was 25 years ago when my family moved there from a six-year nomadic life in Borneo). Dry season in Bandung is, as far as I can remember, cold and dry. The sun is very strong though it feels so nice when you're under a tree.

While summer in Japan is completely different from dry season in Bandung. It's hot (even during cloudy day) and humid. Even the wind is hot. I'm drenched in sweat day and night, night and day. Taking a shower 2 or 3 times a day helps a little. I often lose appetite and suffer what it's called natsubate or summer fatigue. It's the thing where I feel drowsy but can't sleep because of the heat. I feel hungry but all I want is just drinking.  I feel sluggish and heavy. So to survive this dreadful season, I choose very refreshing food that does not require a long cooking process (standing near the stove in summer is certainly a bad idea). I tried an Italian dish before. Tried it once but never did it again. I guess it's not so addictive as fresh spring rolls.

My husband and I really like fresh spring rolls. We love them! It's not difficult to make and basically just veggies. We always have the ones with shrimp when we eat at a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant, but making them by myself, I don't feel it's necessary to make exactly like them. So I just throw in some rice noodles (boiled), some carrots (julienned) and some coriander leaves. And voilà!

I love coriander leaves! The smell is just amazing! No need meat or shrimp. These three should be enough. And for the dipping sauce, (being lazy that I am when it comes to cooking especially in the summer) I just got ready-to-eat sauce in a bottle that I can buy at the nearest supermarket.

We never get tired of fresh spring rolls!

A Wonderful and Touching Review

Whenever I get a good review from a customer, I feel elated. I really really appreciate their taking time to write good things about my works. All reviews are wonderful and very informative for me. But the recent one is not only long but also so wonderful and touching.

I had received a custom order to make a tsumami zaiku bridal hair clip from a lady about a few months ago before moving to Tokyo. The lady wanted me to make this clip for her future daughter in-law's wedding in August. Every time I get a custom order for wedding, I get so nervous. So this time I was also very nervous. Not only it's for a very important event but also everything was hectic for me because of the moving.

Luckily everything went well. Coincidentally I received a bolt of vintage silk fabric from my mother in-law's friend. And it was pink, just the right one that I needed for the hair clip. A few days after having tidied up small working place in my new apartment, I started making. The hair clip was completed within 4 - 5 days. I took some pictures and she loved it, which made me feel so relief. So I listed on my Etsy shop and once she'd made payment, I shipped it the next day. After almost 2 weeks I hadn't heard anything from her. I began to feel worried. I used EMS Japan Post. It comes with a tracking number and is fast. Based on my experience a package shipped by EMS arrives within 7 business days to United States. I wrote to her and she said the package hadn't arrived. I traced it on EMS Japan Post site and it said the package was still held up by custom in San Francisco. Oh I was so worried.. This had never happened before. Just as my worry began to escalate, I got this wonderful and touching review from her the next morning.

I was so thrilled and touched by such heartwarming words. And of course I feel so relieved..She's promised to take a picture of her daughter in-law-to be wearing the hair clip. I can't wait!

I wish I could put the picture on my blog when it comes, but I will not. It's so personal. I don't want to invade someone's privacy. So I just attach here the picture of the hair clip that I made for her :)

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!

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!