A NEW CD - 'WONDERFUL WORLD'

Yuzu's latest album 'Wonderful World', I bought this CD + DVD limited edition from Ebay and it's been a while really since I enjoyed a cd this much.

Yuzu is a Japanese folk-rock duo, and 10 years have passed since their official debut. Time really flies! I became a fan despite not knowing a single word of Japanese then! I love their summery harmonies as well as their thoughtful lyrics (after I found out what they were singing lol). One of my favourite folk instument is the harmonica, which is played super skillfully by Iwasawa Koji who also juggles his guitar at the same time.

For this album I'm glad they returned to their roots of more folkish songs. In the past few years, their music was straying abit from folk and more into commercial pop which was quite disappointing, since I felt the best albums were their pre-debut mini album of street performances (they were originally busking in the streets). 

FOLLOWING BLOG WIDGET

Yep I'm S-L-O-W... just realised to add the 'Following' gadget by blogger and found out how to add others as well...

To add the widget, go to Layout > Add a gadget > Followers.

To follow my blog, just click the widget which says 'Follow this blog' on the right side bar.
To add other people's blog who hasn't installed the widget, Copy the blog's address > go to Dashboard > Reading List > Add > Paste the address. It should appear under your reading list. 

SHOPPING IS STRESSFUL

This may sound wierd but shopping therapy does not work for me. I feel very stressed when shopping, because spending a bomb on supplies when my bank account is not very full is not very pleasant lol. My preferences for spending money is on yummy FOOD. Calculating and juggling stores for the best prices are the worst part of sourcing! This year for Christmas I'll be focusing on Lemon Kitscharms at http://lemonkitscharms.blogspot.com (my supplies & jewellery shop). Florals will be my theme; right now I am creating alot of cameo necklaces, Holly Hobbie rings and these beautiful floral cameos:

There have been hiccups on my materials lately; the manufacturer decided to change the plating of the rings to a yellow gilt and the colour is so wrong. It's now pale yellow rather than gold. And my bezels are gold... very annoying! Also there have been occassional faulty cameos, it's not worth it for me to return the faulty products so I gotta reorder and wait a few weeks for it to arrive besides absorbing the costs for the faulty goods... I can't stand selling products that are not up to par. Also my supplier for my ox-brass chain sold out on his stock for ages & I patiently waited & went to his store again and again (it's an hour's travel) on the promised shipment dates... but they never arrived! In the end he said he didn't KNOW when it was arriving! Sheesh. Thank God I found another supplier which is a new shop just down the street.

I'm curious to know what problems you face when sourcing?

Oh yes check out my handmade cute paper baggies on Etsy. I'm really a chronic paper bag maker! These are pouches for promos or packing supplies, selling in lots of 45. 

Paper pouches Set A

Paper Pouches Set B

AVATAR

I was bored and many people have been avataring themselves on flickr. This is technically not me. For one, I got teenier eyes and hair so straight and fine my ears pop out through my hair (lol). Also they didn't have a grouchy mouth which was too bad because I have a grumpy looking face. But I do own a pair of red geek eyeglasses though my black one is the one I use all the time =)

Get yours at http://faceyourmanga.com/ and post yours on your blog!

ENTITY ARTWORK

My latest artwork coloured digitally in photoshop. I wanted a nouveau feel and my usual theme of flowers! This took several months (I'm ashamed at my slowness)! 

Also some of you might've wondered of my absense, I'd like to thank all the kind folks who've been checking back on my blog while I was sick and especially to Bobbi who asked if I was ok =). Anyhow what happened was I had a high fever that wouldn't go away for a week so I took a blood test and nothing was up; no pneumonia, no dengue fever, no cancer. Just a very bad virus or maybe a multiple of them. So far no sales (on Etsy) while I was sick, I also made use of the newly implemented 'Vacation' option thus! How is sales for everyone on Etsy? These few weeks has been quite a ghost town. I wonder if it's the lack of buyer traffic or my products are not up to par?