I Miss Tokyo

I spent most of my childhood summers in Tokyo, Japan with my family. Hey, some kids went to Summer camp and I went to Tokyo! Being a typical kid I actually complained about that. I have a lot of fond memories of spending Sundays on the streets of Harajuku and seeing all the street fashion and performers. That place is so alive. It is filled with so much sub-culture. There are amazing little things you just will not see anywhere else! Like, the Rockabilly dancing gangs. They are amazing in their dedication. The Gothic Lolita fashion has always been fascinating. The way its all evolved is so awesome... its so against the social norm... it is so punk. This sub-culture has molded my fashion tastes more than a child molds playdoh.

I started having a conversation about Lolita and GothLoli fashion with my daughter because she saw me flipping through a Magazine from Japan and immediately took towards this genre. She loves ruffles, bustles and anything layering. She loves dark clothes, layers and plaids. She also loves heavy makeup and bright hair. If we lived in Tokyo she would seek out this subculture from the moment we stepped out the door.

Now, I would also like to point out that I neither mold nor influence my daughter's taste in anything. I raise her to form her own opinion and there are plenty of things we do not agree on whatsoever! I give her the options, give no biased opinion either way and she formulates her own outlook on things. For example, she does not like my skater shoes or my chucks because she feels that all shoes should have some kind of shiny stuff on them or flowers. Simply different.

She wanted to assist me in designing something new. She chose her three favorite fabric combinations (which I am quickly running out of) and she grabbed some lace and decided she wanted to make a kids gothic lolita outfit. This was the result.

The Etsy Handmade Kids Challenge!

Etsy has had this Handemade Kids Challenge going on for the past few months. Its been a wonderful experience and fun to check out all the talented artists! I found out that I am one of the finalists in the Kids Clothing category! I am completely floored and honored! The grand prize spending money would be nice but I feel like I've already won by being picked. This is what I entered and it sold long before they closed the contest!


You can vote here: http://www.etsy.com/voter.php Remember that every time you vote you are entered to win a 350$ spending spree in each category!

If you scroll down you will find another blog entry about this piece. My daughter actually helped me design this! It was a really great day for us. She had been sick after a severe allergic reaction and I needed her to have some down time. Its hard to get a 6 year old girl to sit still and relax... so designing and sewing did that for her. She was thrilled with the whole process. She is now ecstatic that the outfit she came up with is now a finalist piece in a contest. If we win then I am going to be spending the money on her and letting her have a little shopping spree.

Making the front page of Etsy!

I'm really modest about my designs and what I do... although I am overly confident in all the other aspects of my life... aka Cocky! Okay, seriously though I am really modest.

I was once chatting on the forum on Etsy and a buyer said, "This is really exciting... I am a HUGE fan of yours!"

Who are you a fan of? Huh? Wait, me? Seriously? WOW. *faints*

The whole idea of having fans of my work is really flattering. Extremely flattering. Almost something that I didn't even think was possible. Again, modest I suppose. So when I make a treasury that is made by someone I don't know, or who isn't on my Etsy Team then it stuns me. I end up taking a screenshot of it and store it away. That might seem silly. I would love to know if anyone else does the same!!

So I have now made the frontpage of Etsy twice! TWICE! They were about a month apart. In one day I was on 3 treasuries, had a showcase and made the front page. It was the great day I needed and a huge motivation for me. The same cherry ruffle onesie by the same awesome seller. Here is a picture of my hour of fame on Etsy...





The seller is Spongetta: http://www.spongetta.etsy.com/

I see her all over the forums being supportive and giving sage advice. She has great bags and a great book cover for trashy novels and I have many friends that can use those!