It used to be a hobby!

I've been neglecting my blog!!  And the reason is simply that I have been crazy busy with what used to be my hobby....making rings!  I have been busier and busier and last month I sold over 225 rings!!

It's funny -I never started this part of my business thinking about being successful...rather I've always been creative and I thought I might as well try to sell them since I'm already on Etsy for supplies and vintage...it just made sense.  It used to be that Sundays I would go downstairs to the office where I have my "studio" and I would make some rings (pendants etc) while watching Suze Orman on itunes or listening to Harry Potter (book on CD-Jim Dale's version) on my ipod etc-it was fun and relaxing. But now I'm making them 4 days a week....3 nights after work and on Sundays. That of course doesn't include taking pictures, listing them or preparing orders for our assistant (she does all the packing for our 5 on line shops-thank God for her). 

I'm so happy to make and sell rings!!  I'm not complaining at all! I just have to try to balance it all- 5 online shops, a full time job, all the crazy daily accounting that has to be done here in Japan and I'm trying to have some kind of personal life-this is proving to be stressful at times. I can't even imagine what it would be like if we had kids!

Anyway, now you know why I haven't been blogging as much as before.

In other news....

Here is something I thought would interest you. From now until February 19th in Nagoya you can take this "oden" train. It's once a day and lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes. It costs 3,500 yen ($43 USD at today's exchange rate) and that includes beer "nomihodai" (all you can drink beer), a bowl of oden (boiled food you eat with spicy mustard-very popular in winter and quite yummy), some snacks and 1 glass of sake. There is also karaoke. This local train company started this in 2007 as way to attract more customers in the winter season (apparently they have a summer version as well).

Inspired by Sake!

This is the 2nd in my series of posts called "Inspired by....". This time I chose "Inspired by sake!". In Japanese, "sake" means alcoholic drinks in general. So, this post includes items inspired by Japanese beer as well as "nihonshu" (what we foreigners usually mean when we say "sake").

The first is a very very cool sake cup! It can be found at mikioceramics. The interior glaze is food safe so it can be used!

Next we have this very cute print by threecatsgraphics.

It is super hot here in Japan right now....beer sales are soaring! Sapporo is a very famous brand of beer. This is a very cool recycled notebook by ivylanedesigns.

Here is another item inspired by Sapporo beer-soap by thebeersoapcompany.

Pocket mirrors are very handy to have and this one is also cute! Robots drinking sake under a cherry blossom tree eating sushi-what's not to love! Check it out at botodesigns

One can't talk about sake without including sake sets! This is a very cool set by Hodakapottery. I love the colors!

Here is a gorgeous fine art print by kylespears. Stunning!

How cute is this print by TomokoMaruyama ? Cute animals in a hot spring enjoying sake and Mt. Fuji!

And what a perfect combination - a sake set with cherry blossoms! Check it out at alinahayes

What do you think of this combination?

In Japan, eating snacks while drinking is big business! I know what you are thinking....same in the States and Canada etc. But I'm not talking about just peanuts, wings and chips. In Japan, there are very specific kinds of beer snacks and if you go to the 7-11 (convenience store) there is a whole section of these beer snacks which include peanuts (normal and peanuts covered in a crunchy coating often tasting like wasabi), peanuts with dried mini fish, dried sliced squid, salami, cheese, shrimp flavored snacks etc. Eating edamame (steamed soy beans in the pod) with beer is the norm here. And going out for ramen after a night of drinking is popular. BUT I think this is a pretty bizarre idea. Sweets and beer. As you can see from the pictures they are pairing beer and sweets. I highly doubt this will become popular...even here!