2023 Achievements

While I don’t have the best record at achieving my plans and goals for the year, I do enjoy celebrating whatever small wins I get. Here’s some of my favourites that I saved in a folder throughout the year, from the quite impressive to the very silly. I’ll be doing my reading separately.

Let’s start with Etsy, even though their Year in Review was a perfect example of how not to do this. So many depressing stats that are more likely to make you quit selling than share proudly, and way too much sales/financial information included for you to be able to do so (I’ve removed the sales numbers above!) I was fascinated by those shipping stats and initially refused to believe them, but then I realised it must include digital downloads – even though no dispatching takes place. I wish they’d included some of the countries as you don’t get any info on digital customers and I really want to know!

One thing I am proud of is finally achieving Etsy’s Star Seller badge. It took a lot of effort but I got there in September and managed to keep it for the rest of the year. It’s pretty meaningless really but I don’t doubt it will be important to Etsy as they start making more and more decisions via automation rather than humans.

I’m still learning German on Duolingo and kept my ridiculous streak going (1739 days by the end of the year!). I’m finding the lessons are a lot easier now, which I hope means I am getting better rather than they’ve made them less challenging. I joined Bluesky a few months ago and discovered there are quite a lot of Germans posting. I’m able to understand a lot of their posts – and even laughed at a joke!

Nothing surprising in my Nintendo year in review as once again I spent far too much time playing Zelda! We did have a lot of fun family time with Mario Golf as well. I can’t see this changing much in 2024.

This made me laugh to see it in the folder – the day I was 29th in the official Tour de France fantasy team rankings! That may not sound like much but usually I was more like 2900th. Go me for having half the breakaway in my team, and picking the unlikely stage winner (by millimetres). Surely my greatest achievement.

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Super Cute Kawaii

I wrote 166 blog posts during 2023 and these were the most popular.

1. Cute 2023 Printable Calendars
2. Legend of Zelda Crafts & DIYs
3. Kawaii Whale Sharks
4. Cute Studio Ghibli Crafts & Kits
5. 2023 Sanrio Character Ranking Results & Picks
6. New Cute Cafes In Japan For Kawaii Fans
7. New Sanrio x Miki Takei Stationery
8. Kawaii Origami YouTube Channels To Follow
9. Kawaii Crafts Youtube Channels To Follow
10. What’s New With Sumikko Gurashi

They’re all from the first half of the year (and most from the first quarter) so here’s 10 more I spent a lot of time on, in publication order.

1. Snow Bunny New Year Cards Tutorial
2. Unique & Fun Kawaii Stationery
3. Meet The Artist: Riss Zanfei of Tasty Peach Studios
4. Kawaii Japan Trip Planning Resources
5. Kawaii Etsy Picks For Bad Days
6. Kawaii Plush With Accessories To Buy & DIY
7. The Illustrator’s Guide To Procreate Book Review
8. SCK Tries…3D Needlepoint Kit
9. Sakuraco Traditional Japanese Snacks Subscription Box Review
10. SCK Tries…DIY Projects Advent Calendar