Well, October was a very very busy month – I feel like I barely had a day off! Shop sales have been back up, all my freelance jobs that had been on hold all came back in the same week and I’ve had more press and other enquiries than the rest of the year put together. Not to mention, my secret project! I’ve handed over the files for that and samples are being made as we speak. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer until I can spill the beans.
However, all that excitement means I didn’t get to do a whole lot else this month.
Books I enjoyed
The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
Still plugging away with these and actually really enjoying them. It’s funny that Tizzalicious is also reading these. I wonder which of us will finish the series first? I’m a book or so ahead just now but I have various prejudices against new books and hardback books which will probably slow me down.
Looking For The Lost by Alan Booth
A barter from one of my freelance clients – a surprise book from my Amazon wishlist is always more enjoyable than a few pounds in the PayPal account when it comes to little jobs. This was wonderful, combining my love of Japan with my love of cranky and amusing travel writers. He basically retraces the path of various historical characters and details the countryside, the ryokans he stays in and all the quirks of the people he meets along the way. Really want his other Japan book now.
Good things I watched
Alias
Continuing my JJ Abrams catch-up, I have now nearly finished Season 1 of Alias which completely passed me by at the time. Unsurprisingly, it is great stupid spy fun but really, JJ Abrams needs to stop recycling plot lines for new shows and films.
Projects completed
– Glasgow Craft Mafia Winter Flyer
– New home page
– pumpkinsputnik website
– Icons for Folksy
– Lots of new products
– Two batches of brooches (vintage buttons and new ones I’ll show you soon)
And several million things yet to be made public by the client. Wait and see!
Interesting new blogs in my RSS
– Regretsy (like everyone else; hilarious)
– Katie Does Japan (beautiful pics from Katie‘s Japan trip)
I actually deleted a ton of blogs from my RSS this month and reorganised my feeds. Instead of subject they are now organised into the type of reading required, eg. lots of text (keep for a boring Sunday), massive photos (avoid at peak time internets), quick reads etc. so it’s much easier to pick a folder and read through it. I still have a LOST folder though and one for my favourite blogs.
Exciting things I purchased
– The adorable Food Friends tray from Paperchase at the top of this post (see more at Super Cute Kawaii)
– Loads of kawaii for the SCK shop – we really cleared out that paypal account :)
– Lots of things that haven’t arrived yet (Muji slippers, Jay Ryan’s new book, a banner for my stall! etc.)
Musical Rediscoveries
As before, awesome stuff I have rediscovered in my epic iTunes Library Relistening project. Only about four days’ worth of music left now and I will really miss it when I’m finished. I really recommend doing this if you get stuck in a musical rut – so much good stuff I’d forgotten about.
– The Sundays
– Mario & Zelda Big Band (srsly amazing)
– Squarepusher
– Hirameka Hi-Fi
– Slowdive
– Fighting Red Adair
Online sales
Items sold on Shopify: 30
Items sold on Etsy: 13
Items sold on Folksy: 20
Items sold on Dawanda: 4
Much better sales this month – let’s hope it continues.
