It’s the last post in this series! It’s been a lot of fun for me to see what I was blogging about every month from 2008-2019, so let’s have a look at May.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2477094840_f53a22634f_o.jpg)
2008
May 2008 has a big Asking For Trouble milestone – the time I made a rash promise to bake Shopify a cake and ended up sewing them a cupcake finger puppet, which I named Cakeify. That was my first original kawaii character, who eventually turned up on some products. I also invented Book Hearts, experimented with fabric-covered notebooks and made more Geisha gocco prints. It was also nice to reminisce about my last time at All Tomorrow’s Parties – a music festival at a holiday camp. I will never forget watching the penultimate episode of LOST with my pals in a chalet instead of the live bands we had paid money to see. This recap we all did on diskant is still hilarious.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/cutiefruity.jpg)
2009
May 2009 has another felt Cakeify, this time in plush form with his friends. I still have these on my studio sofa. I also came up with some new Cutie Fruity characters, which came from sketchbook doodles. New things included vintage flower badges and some new shoes at Zazzle.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/4638934310_51518e2810_o.jpg)
2010
May 2010 doesn’t have much of interest at all but I did get a test copy of my first Busy Bee Organiser made (and shared the design inspiration from my actual to-do list). I also designed some tiny cards in tracing paper envelopes, which I later used as inspiration for my folded gift tags.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/5774945009_72c4208b76.jpg)
2011
May 2011 has me very busy planning and launching my zine distro Pushpin Zines. I had a lot of fun with that and still love the design – I wish it had been more successful, but I just didn’t have enough time for it. I was updating my Tokyo Shopping Guide too with posts on Character Street and Design Festa, where I bought this amazing Bunny Sushi Guide.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/WISHMAGAZINE1.jpg)
2012
May 2012 has a really nice press photo from when my products were featured in Wish magazine. I also did some origami to try out my new origami paper packs and other new products included colouring books and wooden Pancake brooches.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DITL-bed.jpg)
2013
May 2013 has my favourite Day in the Life post ever, where I did post-it note doodles. Look out for some new DITL stuff on Patreon next month! I finished my seasonal fruit and vegetables charts – little knowing they would become one of my best selling products – and was also doing some cross stitch for fun.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_3905.jpg)
2014
May 2014 is a very busy one! I was still organising my new flat including a custom made planet doormat and hanging maps on my walls. I shared a look at the process of redesigning my Cookie Cute gift wrap, and also added 3 new cards and some stationery. I had the honour of being drawn by Kookizu and interviewed by Momiji. And I went on a mini trip to London and Leeds including the Pick Me Up art event.
![](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/17774921305_7f2aafe9a2_z.jpg)
2015
May 2015 is a 5 A Day month with new gift wrap and Carrot & Pear brooches – I must bring those back as wooden pins sometime. I shared some advice posts including my on-demand design process and how to deal with complaints (as both a customer and shop owner), while the My Art History series covered my years at Moray College (between high school and art school).
![star pins](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/DSCN0013.jpg)
2016
May 2016 is when I was away in Japan by myself for 3 weeks! I shared some last minute planning and did a Day in the Life post while I was there. I also revealed the exclusive products I’d made for Super Cute Box and there were some new on-demand products including paper cups & plates, towels and zipper pouches.
![kawaii wooden brooches - askingfortrouble](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/34111165963_8a57098742_z.jpg)
2017
May 2017 has me still blogging about that 2016 Japan trip including visits to Osaka, Arashiyama & Kyoto and Nagoya, plus a guide to seasonal flower festivals and what to do on a Tokyo layover. My paper craft tutorial is for Peapods and I also share some tips on promoting your on-demand stores. I launched my first set of wooden brooches and designed some new packaging.
![100 Days of Kawaii Characters](http://blog.askingfortrouble.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/100days-8.jpg)
2018
May 2018 has me busy with my 100 Days of Kawaii Characters – and using them for Spoonflower fabric. I shared some of my design process for repeat patterns including Mt Fuji & Bumblebees and Solar System and a long life update.
If you’re reading this in the future, you can also check out all my posts for May 2019 or catch up on the whole series. I hope you enjoyed reading these posts – and thanks again to Laura for the idea.