Holiday Shipping Information – Storenvy Only

Even though it’s still November, I wanted to get this posted nice and early to help with people’s planning for their holiday shopping.

• The dates below apply ONLY to the Kimchi Kawaii Storenvy shop. My Redbubble and Zazzle shops will have their own cut off dates managed by those sites and they have an easier way to process faster shipping methods as well.
• I will ship after these dates, but I can not guarantee that items will arrive in time for Christmas.
• As the plushies have been very popular and difficult to keep in stock, I would advise ordering them sooner rather than later as they have often been on made to order basis.

Domestic Cut Off Date: December 15 – Standard Post

International Cut Off Date: December 1

I am only listing the standard post dates as some items as mentioned above are in made to order status. I’m currently working hard to stock the shop to the fullest I can, but I will also be holding some large sales Thanksgiving weekend so am unable to predict stock levels after December 1.

I have also run into issues with the campus post office that I can access during my lunch breaks (don’t have a car, still have to work full time). They keep running out of funding and from time to time are unable to ship packages. It’s been frustrating to say the least!

I could really use some of Santa’s helpers!

Thank you for understanding and thank you for supporting small businesses this holiday season!

Support Small Businesses This Holiday Season!

Why Shop Small?

I know November has just started, but I want to put a bug in your ear. When you are making your plans for holiday shopping, consider supporting a small business this year!

• Small businesses reinvest in their communities through job opportunities and sales tax revenue which can support schools and other local improvements, often on things you use every day like roads and parks.
• Some businesses specialize in handcrafted items that can make for unique and memorable gifts.
• When you support a small business, you’re supporting someone’s hard work and dream, allowing them to continue doing what they love!

What is Small Business Saturday?

Right after Thanksgiving, Americans hit the stores to kick off the holiday shopping season with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In the middle of those two days is Small Business Saturday which started in 2010 and is gaining momentum. This year, it falls on November 29, 2014. Many small businesses will participate with special events and sales. Added bonus – you can avoid the chaos of the larger retailers!

What Does This Mean for Kimchi Kawaii?

Even though I don’t have a traditional brick and mortar store, I will still be celebrating both Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday with special deals in my Storenvy shop*.

• I’m planning on doing a one day deal on Small Business Saturday so stay tuned! To keep up to date, like my Facebook page which has the most current updates.
• This year, I’m participating in the Storenvy Cyber Monday sale. Kimchi Kawaii, along with participating Storenvy shopkeepers will be offering 30% off shop-wide on December 1st.

So in your holiday shopping plans, I hope you remember to support at least one small business this season. It really is a big deal to us!

*Kimchi Kawaii also sells on Redbubble and Zazzle and I’m pretty sure they will be running deals this weekend as well, but I don’t have control over what the discounts are. Another reason to follow the Facebook page as I’ll be updating there when I find out. 🙂

Holiday Shopping Season

‘Tis the season…when all the big companies bombard you with ads and marketing of all the shiny new stuff you MUST have to make this holiday season perfect. Some people love the rush and bustle of trying to find the perfect gift. Some people make it a point to stick it to the big businesses and stay home (Buy Nothing Day is a counter movement to Black Friday). I’m sure you’ve all seen numerous, dueling FB statuses in your newsfeed by now about both.

“Can’t wait til Black Friday! Check out the deal on this HDTV!!!! SO WAITING IN LINE FOR THIS!!”

“Stop the corporate greed! Don’t line the pockets of big companies on Friday”

What are my thoughts on this? Well, I’m  of mixed feelings. I agree that the holidays have largely been stripped of meaning and become a greed fest. When I see the mobs pushing and shoving in Walmart or Best Buy to get that Black Friday deal, it just makes me sick. Do we really need more ‘stuff’? And most of this stuff – where will it be this time next year? Yesterday’s news? And can most of us afford all this new stuff?

However, I am also a small business owner and yes, the holidays do bring in a lot of my annual sales. I start to see an uptick in my various online shops starting around October (to those of you who are the super prepared, I salute you – you’re awesome). While I’m not reliant on business income alone to run things AND pay my bills/living expenses (I have a full time job in addition to running Kimchi Kawaii), I do rely on the money to bring you more products and fund travel to anime cons that are the best opportunities for me to interact with people in person and promote my art. I know that there are some out there who DO rely on this time of year to just get by and holiday sales can make or break a business.

So honestly, I can’t sit here and say ‘don’t buy anything this year’, but instead urge you go consider supporting small businesses within your means. Here are are some reasons why (a lot of these reasons are from an artist perspective as that is what my business is based off of):

Small businesses often keep things local and will reinvest in their communities at a higher rate than a big box.

You can often find something totally unique that can stand out among the mass produced stuff. Do you really need to give another inflatable shark this year?

Some of us are artists creating our own works for sale which means you’re supporting our creativity and keeping us from a diet of ramen and water 🙂

Most of us still believe that Thanksgiving should be spent at home with friends and family and not behind a cash register.

Hey, you don’t need to drop the amount of a new Lexus to make us happy! Just the fact that you’re willing to make even a $5 purchase in our shops is flattering. You’re helping to support someone’s dream. Let’s face it, we don’t jump into small business to become millionaires. It can be a lot of work for little monetary return, but we do it because we want to. Our businesses are often a manifestation of a dream to provide that certain service, product or vision. Every little bit helps!

So in all the blaring ad campaigns out there, I hope you’ll also consider the little guy who may not have the money to compete with a big box, but can offer product with more meaning than you’ll find in any of the usual places.

Shop Different, Shop Small!

I saw a friend’s post in my Facebook newsfeed the other day talking about how the Black Friday ads are already being leaked. I’m seeing Christmas stuff in the stores already even though we are still two weeks away from Halloween. Yep, that time of year is rapidly approaching where stores are going to be frantically begging for your money.

I’m not trying to rush things here, but I just want to plant a little seed. This year, consider supporting a small business or independent artist. Ever since I started my own business under the name Kimchi Kawaii, this has taken on a whole new meaning to me. I admit, in the beginning, when I went to anime cons as an attendee, I would spend most of my money in the dealer’s room buying the mass produced items sent over from China.

And then I found the artist alley.

And then I started my own business.

Now, I spend most of my money supporting fellow artists. I know what it’s like to have someone come up to your table and like your items enough to give you money for it! Even though I’ve done a bunch of cons at this point, it’s still rather humbling. I also really like how I can find unique items there, often better crafted than the mass produced items.

I know that not everyone can go or wants to go to an anime con, but this is the digital age! Independent artists and small businesses are easier to find and support than ever. Check out sites like Storenvy, Etsy or Art Fire for artist’s shops. Visit your local craft faire!

Commercials from big companies will make it look like their items are THE items you must have to be ‘in’ this holiday season. I challenge you to be unique! Giving items from artisans and small businesses can be so much more rewarding. You’re recipient will get something that is often one of a kind or made with loving care. The small business or artist will be given the means to continue doing what they love and bringing more unique creations to the world.

**I’m going to start doing features of shops and artists who I’ve personally bought from or have a working relationship with. Stay tuned and you may find that perfect present for a friend or family member!

Small Businesses Need You!

The year is flying by and unless you’ve been hiding out from all contact with the internet, television, stores, newspapers and people in general, you know that the holiday season is rapidly approaching. And of course, the big kick off for the shopping season, at least in America is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. Ok, I know that stores are creeping it up earlier and earlier each year and now some are opening ON Thanksgiving which I think is rather grinchy, but I’ll refrain from ranting in this post.

I’m sure some of you have a plan of attack all laid out on how to hit all the best sales on Friday and get a head start on holiday shopping or a little something for yourself. I hope that you will consider also spending some money at small businesses. There is even a movement encouraging people to shop small called Small Business Saturday.  Ever since I started my own small business with Kimchi Kawaii, this has become something that resonates very closely with me. I am also a member of the deviantART community – a social network site for artists and have met many other people on there also running their own small business, selling their wares through sites like Etsy, Store Envy, Zazzle or direct sale. Many of us are passionate about our work and spend hours pouring our creativity into  pieces that we hope will bring enjoyment to our customers. Some of us also work closely with customers on special commissions for something truly unique. We also often get our supplies in our communities which help local economies. These are things you are not going to find in a big box store selling mass produced items!

This year, check out that little boutique in your town that you may have overlooked in previous years. Take a look at the above mentioned sites or any others that feature independent artists or small businesses. Shop small, it’s a big deal to us!

Merry Christmas

Just a really quick post to say Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year. Hope the day is filled with fun times and family.

Jingle Bell Rock

If you haven’t figured out by now, I love puns. I did this design for Christmas 2009. It’s a new take off the Christmas classic ‘Jingle Bell Rock’. Didn’t publish this last year, because I wasn’t as up on my blogging 🙂 I must admit to being very taken with the kawaii rock. It came out so cute. I think that this may be one of my favorite holiday designs so far.

Pity the Poor Fruitcake

I never really liked fruitcake that much. Maybe I just fall pressure to society and how NO ONE in their right mind should like it. It’s the frequent butt of jokes, white elephant gifts and family lore when the same one is  passed through different branches of the family. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of those candied fruits. They were also the same reason I used to skip the spumoni ice cream at The Old Spaghetti Factory. It used to also have the candied fruit and I remember thinking, ‘this is like fruitcake in an ice-cream form, blech’. I guess others had that same feeling because I started noticing that the fruits were absent.

Anyway, despite my dislike of this holiday dessert, you still gotta feel a bit sorry for it. Everything is welcomed during the holidays. The Christmas tree gets prime real estate in your biggest window. New ornaments that are given are exclaimed over and added to the collection. Christmas cards from friends and family are eagerly opened and perused for news and updates. Then a fruitcake arrives and it’s a game of ‘who wants it?’. So I drew this design for Christmas 2009.

The funny thing about this piece is what happened when I put it up on my deviantART account recently. Suddenly, within a 12 hour period, my stats showed that it had become my most favorited (currently at 637), most commented (currently at 130) and most viewed (currently at a whopping 3,457!!) of all the designs in my gallery. I’ve had the account since August 2010 and there are some in there that only have one or two favorites and a handful of views. In the comments below the design there is a running debate between the ‘Fruitcake is Heavenly’ and ‘I Give Fruitcake to My Enemies’ sides. And then there are people who just feel sorry for it. It’s been so funny to follow! If you want to read the comments, some of which are pretty entertaining check out my deviantART page.

Someone did comment on how they are now forced to make their own each year because it’s getting harder to find in the stores. I wonder if I had homemade fruitcake if I would feel differently about this debatable dessert!

Mmm…cookies

One of  my memories of Christmas time growing up was making sugar cookies with the family. Mom would mix the dough, cut and bake it and then we kids would decorate them with colored icing and sprinkles. I made this design with that memory in mind. We had two shapes that we did – a Christmas tree and a star and we always iced them in either red or green. Of course, sometimes we got experimental and tried to make new colors by mixing the two together or trying to achieve a marbled affect. Once they were iced, we finished them off with sprinkles in either red or green. I remember the kitchen table covered with cookies in various stages of completion. I was the oldest of the kids so I was usually the last one still decorating when my brother and sis lost interest.

I still do a holiday baking each year. My friend and I get together and do a cookie marathon. In years past, I’ve stayed night at her place since she lived further away from me. This year, she’s the next city over. We were talking this weekend about what we wanted to make and if my family had any requests. We have our set favorites – cranberry orange swirls, eggnog cookies and of course sugar cookies. We also do peppermint bark, mexican wedding cakes, merrengues, and a snack mix with cheerios, m&m’s, peanuts and pretzels mixed with white chocolate. That thing is SO addictive. Last year we also threw in a cranberry nut bar and rice krispie treats. Usually, we bake for about 12 hours straight. I know, totally crazy! I think this year, we are planning a head a bit more and will make some of the dough ahead of time so that we can just pop stuff in the oven and not be stuck in the kitchen all day long.

Keep it Simple

Christmas day is rapidly approaching and for some of us, it’s a bit too rapid. There’s so much to be done – presents to be bought, wrapped and shipped off to loved ones afar. Cookies to be made. Trees to be decorated. Plans to be made for gathering with friends and family. Cards to be written… The list goes on and on. Sometimes, I think we get so bogged down in all the stuff that we ‘have’ to do for the holiday season that it becomes something to endure, something to get through and then we loose focus of what the real reason is for Christmas.

I did this design for Christmas 2009 for Kimchi Kawaii. I wanted to make something that reminded people that Christmas is really about the birth of  Jesus Christ. He was born in a stable and put in a manger. You can’t get any more simple and less glamorous than that! I know the usual nativity scenes depict the shepherds, wise men and angels all bowing in adoration, but I wanted to just show a basic nativity scene, one that ‘keeps it simple’.