akemi designs :: blog

Facebook and Twitter and Etsy, oh my!

2010-03-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

If you haven't done so already, become a fan of Akemi Designs on Facebook!
And while you're at it, you can follow me on Twitter!
And don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for your favorite paper goodies.

Many thanks for your support!

Paper cutting

2010-02-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I cut out a bunch of paper hearts. I also busted out the heart paper punch to make some tiny ones. My kiddo is using them for her valentine cards for her classmates. Yay for paper crafts!

Origami Love

2010-02-03T14:09:00.001-08:00

It had been a while since I made any new designs (trying to sell off my stock to make more room), and it left me in a bit of a creative rut. To remedy this situation, I decided to make one card a day and offer it for sale on Etsy. Unfortunately, I only made it through Day 1 (Feb. 1st). This is the card.

I scoured various origami heart designs in books and online, and finally decided that this would be perfect for this card. Some origami hearts were opened up to reveal a pocket, some peeked out of origami boxes, some were very flat, others very poofy.

Perhaps I'll incorporate those into other designs. It would be fun to have a theme for a week or even a month. February will be hearts in celebration not only of Valentine's Day, but the Date-a-versary between my better half and me. Friday marks our 11th year together!

My hope is by writing my goal down here on this blog, I'm more likely to commit to it because someone in the blogosphere will hold me accountable.

Like the card? Get it at my Etsy shop!

Still here, but catch me there and also over there

2010-01-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Yep, still here. I'd be ever so happy if you followed me on Twitter and/or become a Facebook fan for Akemi Designs. Thanks!

Recent Etsy listings

2009-11-20T11:19:00.000-08:00

I've been focusing more on my Etsy store these days, simply for ease of listing items and keeping track of inventory and such. Why not take a look?

A few years ago I took part in a couple of art shows. I created textural collages using Japanese papers mounted on maple hardwood boards, and based the various series on Japanese motifs. This one is part of a series of plants, called Sakura.

Also for sale is my Kamon series of collages. Kamon, or simply Mon, is the Japanese family crest. They are simple, usually circular in shape, and have a basic, geometric design like a plant (like a chrysanthemum flower), craft (scissors), or natural element (mountain). Read more about it here.

These make great holiday gifts for friends and family. They are ready for hanging as-is.

Cardboard camera

2009-10-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Combining my love of paper (cardboard, in this case) and photography, Kiel Johnson created this awesome Twin Relfex Camera.

Kiel Johnson's Cardboard Twin Lens Reflex Camera Time Lapse from Theo Jemison on Vimeo.

Gift Tags for your knitting ...

2009-07-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

... now selling at Imagiknit!

Featured on Not A Stupid Blog

2009-06-24T22:32:00.001-07:00

Fun blog name. Thanks for the feature!

Not A Stupid Blog

Gift tags for your knitted and crocheted treasures

2009-05-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

Anyone out there knit? or crochet? both? Me too! I finally created a line of gift tags for gifts that have been knitted or crocheted. The lucky recipient of your knitted gift will be so impressed with your attention to detail, and will be relieved to have care instructions included to keep the gift in fine condition for a long time.

I really enjoy making gift tags because they are small, relatively easy to make, and most importantly, use up all those little bits of papers from previous projects that I can't bear to throw away. These tags are printed on a cotton blend, eco-friendly paper made by Neenah Paper. It has a very subtle, velvety soft touch to them. The strip of Japanese silk-screened paper creates added dimension and luxury.

And of course, also being a graphic designer, I couldn't help but use three different typefaces/fonts in the printing. Each one brings a different feel to the gift tag, from modern to traditional to contemporary.

Grab these up in my Etsy shop!

Etsy activity

2009-05-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

My shopping cart is a totally broken on my website. And I fully admit that my coding skillz are not up to par to tackle this. I've been toying with the idea of focusing more on my Etsy shop for sales and using the main Akemi Designs site as a portfolio of past works. So this past week I've updated my site and will continue to add more things to the shop. I've also joined the SF Bay Area Etsy Street Team and hope to become active with them. Their etsy items can be seen here.

As Memorial Day is just moments away, so is the kickoff for the barbecue season that will continue throughout the summer. You will surely go to several outdoor parties. Why not get yourself some gift tags to adorn those bottles of wine, champagne, or a bottle of Lambic ale that you bring for your hosts?

Shop now!

Wai-Ching clothing

2009-05-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

I discovered Wai-Ching on the offbeatbride.com and instantly fell in love with her clothing designs. I love her use of bold colors, decorative and detailed stitching, silk fabrics, and a deconstructive yet polished edge that intrigues like no other. My favorites in her collection are the Yowying dress, Samsara dress, Delirum pant, Holeng skirt, and the stunning Green Victorian Skirt. I have a few weddings to attend this year, which would be a perfect excuse to get something. But oh, what to choose?!

I had the good fortune of interviewing Chrissy Wai-Ching and learn a little about her and her creative process for her custom clothing.

How did you become a designer of couture clothing? Were you always interested in fashion and sewing?

Chrissy Wai-Ching (CWC): I've been sewing and creating since I was about 5 years old. My grandmother is an avid quilter so she showed me the ins and outs early on. I later studied fashion, art, and textiles and started my own line when I realized how hard it was to find unique, beautifully made clothing.

What inspires you?
CWC: Mostly nature, and organic shapes. Also the female form.

When designing a piece, do you start with the idea of a shape, color, or fabric? Or is it something more abstract?

CWC: Usually I start with a feeling or mood and then play with the fabric and see what comes out!

On average, how long does it take to create, say, a dress, from conception to completion?

CWC: There is currently a 3-4 month wait for the pieces.

There is a multi-cultural flavor in all your pieces. In what way have you taken your global experiences and turned that into clothing?

CWC: I'm blending the different elements that I have seen around the world and manifesting them in clothing/art. I like to take flattering and interesting parts of traditional costumes and update them, make them modern hybrids.

What sets you and your clothing line apart from the others out there?

CWC: The level of detail and handcrafting, the fit and use of materials. Also, the handdyeing and sustainable fabrics.

You live in Seattle now. How does living in the Pacific NW affect your work?

CWC: We are surrounded by majestic natural beauty. It is a source of nonstop inspiration.

What was your favorite item you designed?
CWC: I especially love the Zolotova Dress because it uses all the scraps from other pieces, so it is completely sustainable. It is fun to play with colors in that design because of the high level
of detail and silk collaging.

And a few of quick questions... what is your favorite...

...color? red
...food? red grapes
...hobby? running
...singer/band? Ltj Bukem

Thank you so much for the interview and your time Chrissy!

and psst! She also has a men's line too.

Kristen and Trenner

2009-05-11T20:11:00.001-07:00

Lucky for me my family supports my artistic business endeavors. This includes my extended family. My second cousin is getting married this June in beautiful Camarillo, CA and asked me to create her wedding invitations for her. She had a good idea of what she wanted and I went with that to make this invitation suite. It's a square pocket enclosure style invitation with a leaf motif with shades of green to match the sage green color scheme of the wedding. The RSVP, reception card, and URL card rests in the diagonal pocket. The card itself is secured with a band of Chiyogami (Japanese silk screened) paper. The 100+ envelopes were hand addressed to the guests.

Here's another view:

Transparency in design

2009-05-01T07:37:00.001-07:00

My good friend Lisa is one of my best customers. I am grateful that she always gives me the opportunity to try new designs out, whether it be for her friends' bachelorette parties, bridal showers, or even her own wedding. She hired me to create this Bachelorette invitation with a floral brocade design printed on a transparency and the text printed on a soft-white cotton blend paper rich to the touch. Black double-faced satin ribbon is asymmetrically tied around that hints of lingerie.

New Header

2009-04-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

I changed up the blog header, giving it a more Japanese flair. I took this photo last year in the Japanese Tea Gardens here in Golden Gate Park. I spent that morning photographing my cards to use in my catalog. The setting was gorgeous, misty, lush, and mysterious. And I looked a bit crazy with my bags and boxes of stationery and invitations and propping them on various rocks, moss, and benches while visitors roamed around the grounds. Hopefully I didn't disrupt the tranquility there.

I've been working on a lot of custom designs as well as a good deal of graphic work. I'll get more photos posted soon.

Greek themed shower invitation

2009-03-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

I recently finished creating 40 invitations for a bridal shower. The bride and groom will be honeymooning in Greece, so the bridesmaids want to throw a Greek inspired shower. The colors are royal blue and turquoise, which I incorporated in the design using a grapevine graphic detail. It's printed on a smooth, cream colored cardstock and is matched with coordinating blue envelopes.

Celia Kathryn

2008-09-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished putting together a run of 100 custom designed birth announcements for my friends Alex and Amy's newborn daughter Celia. The thing about new projects is that I never know how long it'll take. And almost always I underestimate the time. I think it's because I want everything to be perfect (crippling fault of mine) so I over-think every little aspect instead of just getting my hands dirty and jumping in. Plus I run into various problems like my printer failing, ordering the wrong paper (which I did this time) and all sorts of whoopsies. It's a good thing that I really loved this project because this is one of the times where everything took longer than planned.

My first mockup was decent, but it wasn't the design we went with. Before the baby was born I struggled to find inspiration and drew lots of blanks. But then the baby arrived and Alex created a blog for their kiddo. On the header of the blog was a lovely graphic of a cherry blossom (sakura) branch. It was enough to give me that Aha! moment and it was off to the drawing board to create my own version of sakura.

It would be a sakura branch on an outer paper sleeve with a smaller graphic detail of the cherry blossom printed on the announcement itself, which would be layered on pink cardstock and tied with a satin ribbon It would hold a wallet size photo of the baby. The text would be printed by my laser printer while the sakura would be screen printed by hand to give it that one-of-a-kind, artisan feel.

With the design was decided on, it was time to start gathering my supplies. I already had my Gocco screen printer and the screens and bulbs and inks needed for that. For once I'm prepared.

But I still needed to get the various papers and envelopes needed. I chose a lovely cotton blend, carbon neutral paper in a soft white for the top layer. Unfortunately I ordered the paper with the watermark, so about half of the printed announcements had to get recycled because the watermark was unsightly for this project and then I printed out some more.

I also ordered a bright pink paper for the bottom layer of the announcement. Unfortunately again I failed to double check the weight of the paper and accidentally ordered text weight paper instead of heavy cardstock. Doh! I had to reorder. Two for two. Good going, Self. Luckily my paper vendor ships quickly.

The envelopes, outer sleeves, and ribbons were ordered from a different vendor. No problems there. Score!

I printed out the return address on the back flap of the envelopes. My printer gave me some trouble, but I managed to show it who's boss.

Now the toughest part was to make sure the sakura branch would be aligned after the two passes. Always searching to maximize efficiency (though, ironically that always takes so much time to figure out how to do it), I decided that both branches would be on one screen, and both sets of blossoms would be on another screen.

I held my breath, and jumped in. I mixed up some inks to make a rich brown suitable for a tree branch, then I applied it to the screen.

I printed all the branches on the outer sleeve first, then on the announcements.

The next day, I mixed the inks and got a couple shades of pink for the various cherry blossoms.

I then printed second screen with the blossoms over all the branches.

Next I used an acid-free PVA to glue the white text weight paper onto the pink cardstock. Then I punched holes in the center top of the card and tied each one with a chocolate brown satin ribbon.

When the photos arrived and I glued them on to announcements. Then it was placed in the sleeve.

Tada!

I'm on Cuteable

2008-08-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

If you don't visit Cuteable, you should definitely add it to your RSS feed and check it out daily. There are always great finds there featuring indie designers and artists. Today I'm among the lucky ones on Cuteable, featuring my hand screen-printed Birthday Hat cards.

Akemi Designs joins MyWares.com

2008-06-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

There is often an disjoint between the wholesale world and the retail world. For niche micro-business like Akemi Designs, it's important to get the word out about their specialty goods as much as possible. A relatively new site, called MyWares.com helps connect retail buyers with wholesale sellers, especially in this market. I have high hopes for mywares. With the increase in popularity in the DIY movement and the demand/desire for hand crafted, locally made goods, this is a great opportunity to bring these niche products to the consumer level.

Sampler pack at Etsy

2008-06-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed that my Etsy shop has been sadly neglected. Well, Good News! It's now reopen with some newly listed sale items. I'm clearing out my old stock, old designs, and samples so grab them while the grabbin's good. Save over 50% on Akemi Designs notecards and be stocked for all those special (and even ordinary) occasions that sneak up on you when you least expect it.

Wish You Were Here

2008-04-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

I will have a piece exhibiting in Milwaukee at Luckystar Studio's upcoming one-week show: "Wish You Were Here." This features all sorts of postcards and any mailable art created by people from all over. Click here for the press release.

I used chipboard (cardboard) for my postcard "canvas." Using my favorite medium, I glued various kinds of Japanese paper to create a whimsical outdoor scene of a butterfly, grassy field, and fluffy clouds floating in the sky. The address is written with a Japanese brush style pen on medium weight translucent vellum paper. It is stamped with my custom Japanese signature chop on the upper left-hand corner and a good 'ol American Flag stamp on the upper right-hand corner.

The back side is relatively simple. I glued a piece of Japanese silkscreened paper and used the brush pen to write "Wish you were here..." and signed with my name and location.

All postcards will be for sale at the show, so this is a great opportunity to snatch up some fun art at affordable prices!

Datebook organizer

2008-01-24T09:12:00.001-08:00

Let's face it. I'm not the most organized person out there. I have to juggle work, family life, as well as find time to do my own thing. After searching for more than a year (!), I finally found the perfect datebook-calender-planner. It's designed by Laurel Denise and it's exactly what I've been looking for. Here's the description taken from her website:

This spiral bound calendar is specially designed giving constant access to plans for the entire month, a weekly schedule, and a weekly and monthly to-do list on the same opened page. With this unique week and month-at-a-view layout, you have space for all of life's lists in one, centralized location. The tabs separating each month, two built in folders and planning pages for next year help you to meet your goals, not just make them.

It's smartly organized, simple, straightforward, yet it has everything I need, down to the extra built-in pockets to hold loose papers. And it's pretty!

あけましておめでとうございます!

2008-01-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

or Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu! That's Japanese for Happy New Year!

I went to a Japanese language school that met once a week for about 10 years. Sadly, I retained very little because I never practiced and did not grow up in a Japanese speaking house even though my dad is fluent in the language.

This past week I've been preparing my business postcards to send to potential clients and to those that have a Japanese-related business, I decided it would be a nice personalization to write Happy New Year in Japanese. I really should have practiced a few times first before committing to writing on the actual postcard because, to be honest, my Hiragana penmanship is terrible. I forgot how to properly stroke the characters and it looks sloppy. It basically has the flow of trying to write in a Western style but on Japanese characters. But on the upside, I guess it is a good example of how I try to combine Eastern and Western elements together. If my Japanese calligraphy teacher were to see my writing today, she would yell at me in Japanese words I do not understand and deny me any fun with origami crafting.

The Sampler

2007-11-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

Holiday Samplers are available now! I'm finally participating in it so this is your chance to get some great goodies by some awesome indie businesses. Click here to buy yours today. They sell out super fast so don't delay.

Blow Art Show

2007-11-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

My second group art show at Blow opens a week from tomorrow on November 10th at 7pm. Above is a scan of the front and back of the show postcard to let you have a sneak peak of my fellow artists also participating in the show.

Like my previous exhibition last year, my art is paper collage based on Japanese motifs, more specifically woodblock prints from the Japanese masters like Hokusai and Harushige. This new series only consists of 3 in the collection (I ran out of time to create more) but I really love them. The first one I made features a woman wearing a red kimono:

The next one is a woman standing under an Ume (plum) Blossom tree (this one is my favorite):

The one completed just today is a woman holding a lantern in the breeze by pine trees:

Catching up

2007-09-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

I finished re-creating the wholesale catalog. Yay! But as I went looking for the line sheet and order form, I realize that the file got erased as well in the fall-out of my hard drive death. So now I'm in the process of recreating that as well. Bummer. But it should be finished in a matter of days.

The good thing about all this is that I redesigned it much more efficiently. The first version of the catalog and press kit were each over 30 megs. Now they are down to 5. Sweet.

Anyway, here's a shot of the wholesale cover.

For retailers: let me know if you are interested in carrying Akemi Designs in your store. I'll send you a pdf of the catalog.

Waahh!

2007-09-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

Whiny post ahead.

You've heard it before. "Back up your hard drive." Lesson learned, the hard way (is there any other way to really learn?). Two weeks ago, my hard drive died in my powerbook. It could not reboot and any operating system. The last time I had backed up my work files was months ago. Since then, I had revamped my logo, created a catalog, did numerous design projects, and many others. All lost.

So I took my laptop into the Genius Bar at the Apple store. They said they could fix the hard drive and hopefully retrieve the lost files. I was grateful. A week and $175 bucks later I had my computer back. All the files were magically restored and I also got an upgraded OS (bonus!). Unfortunately, I had to reinstall all my outside applications like Adobe CS2, Office, Quickbooks, etc. In the process of installing CS2, the hard drive died. Again.

So I take it back. Looks like the only thing they did was save my files, completely ignoring the issue with the hard drive. Yesterday I finally get my computer back. An additional $350 spent. The new OS is there. A new hard drive installed. And my files are there. More or less.

There were just a few files that were still messed up. Some being a couple product photos. The most important one being my wholesale catalog that I was 99% finished with and getting ready to launch my campaign. It is gone. Months of hard work is lost. I'm upset with myself for not backing up my files. I'm kicking myself as I will miss the deadline I made with myself for finishing the catalog. I'm dreading having to recreate it.

I am thankful though that the majority of my files were saved, including photos of my family and most of my work files, as well as getting an upgraded operating system. We also bought a personal computer, a shiny new iMac, and golly is it slick!

First thing I did after I boot up my powerbook? Backed up the files to the external hard drive.

Catalog

2007-08-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm just about done creating my revamped wholesale catalog. Here's one of the photos of my Metallic Round gift tags:

Custom Guestbook

2007-07-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

I was recently commissioned to create a guestbook, which happens to be for my cousin's upcoming wedding in Huntington Beach. Her colors are ivory and brown with pink accents. She likes clean lines, classic style. I created a lovely guestbook (if I do say so myself) taking her tastes into account.

I used Japanese silkscreened Yuzen paper in a peach, ivory, gold, and silver colorway. The bookcloth on the left-hand side is chocolate brown. A thin coral satin ribbon runs between the join of bookcloth and Yuzen paper. The inside has a thin layer of Thai Unryu rice paper on the top page. The title page follows with the bride and groom's names, plus date and location. The rest of the pages are blank. The guestbook is bound with nickel-plated brass posts.

There are tons of blank pages (80 or 90) for the guests to write, draw, include any kind of message. I suggested to my cousin that she have some entries on the first few pages filled out by her bridal party before the start of the reception so her guests can follow their examples and not simply write their names.

Here's the inside with the rice paper overlay:

Title page:

Back side:

I hope she likes it!

Silkscreened thank you card

2007-06-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

I recently finished creating 200 thank you notes for a bride. This design is based on a Japanese leaf motif and script font that matched the bridal shower invitations, wedding programs, and placecards. Each card is hand screen printed by yours truly making each one unique and comes with a beautiful eggshell white envelope.

Rare Device with Fly

2007-05-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

Rena Tom owns Rare Device, the adorable boutique in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Her store carries Akemi Designs goodies along with 100 other independent designers. Recently Rena was interviewed on location by Andrea of Fly. It's always great to see the faces of the names, and even better when it's in video form! Check it out here.

Logo fun

2007-05-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

My latest technique I'm taking on in graphic design is the glass button, which has been very trendy this past year. Tonight I played around with my logo and came up with this. It's not very polished, but you get the idea. Also included is a basic grey glass button.

Funky Finds

2007-01-31T08:13:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Funky Finds for the Akemi Designs feature!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for 2007 is to work more on the internal workings of the business. Hopefully I will still find time to create new things, but my main concern right now is the not-so-exciting part for us creative professionals. I've let too much of that slide by the wayside and now it's time to get back on track.

The above image is a photo of a custom art piece I made for a lovely woman in France. She also framed one of my ready-made cards, the Kimono Duo. She graciously sent me a photo of the finished piece, which is seen here:

Relish 2nd Annual Holiday Soiree

2006-12-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

Come to Relish At Home this Saturday (12/16) evening from 5pm - 9pm for their Holiday party! Jill Bliss will be there, who is a goddess among the artsy-crafty realm. I will be there for a bit, depending on how cooperative my daughter is. Since there will be lots of tasties to eat, I'm sure that I can bribe her good behavior with food.

10% of all sales during this party will be donated to the James Kim Memorial Fund.

Creature Comforts giveaway winner announced

2006-12-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Check it out! Congratulations to the big winner!

Japanese family crest series

2006-12-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

Called Kamon or simply mon in Japanese, these are emblems that each family adopts to symbolize their surname, a family crest if you will. Typically, mons are fairly simple in design, often circular shaped with stylized depictions categorized from things like nature such as the ginkgo leaf, animals such as cranes, tools such as a scythe, or geometric symbols like circles. Traditionally, the mon passed down on the maternal side. However, in my case, I've always associated more with the Iwamoto mon, which is from my father. This mon is a fan with a circle around it. It's also important to note that some different families will share the same mon, although they may make slight variations to it, like making the circular frame thicker or thinner. I know that the Iwamoto fan is shared by at least one other family though I will have to ask my dad which surname it is since I can't recall.

With that, I created a series of wall hangings for the Us Versus Them art exhibition. I own a book with hundreds of kamon images for inspiration and chose 6 designs to use for the 6 art pieces. Similar to my other series of Japanese motif wall hangings, I use at least 3 different types of Japanese paper of similar color to create each tonal value. Each different paper color/pattern is cut into tiny pieces and collaged onto a heavy cover weight paper, then cut into the desired shape for the mon.

All these pieces are currently for sale at $50 each. Dimensions are 6"x 6" mounted onto 1/2" thick maple hardwood. They are signed with my Japanese personal hanko (signature stamp) on the front, as well as signed, dated, and other details on the back of the piece. If you would like to purchase any of these, please contact either me or give Blow Salon and Gallery a call at (510) 644-1971 by February 2nd.

I also offer custom work if you have something in particular in mind. If you would like to see your mon or something else in this collage style, email me at
deniseATakemidesignsDOTcom

I really enjoy this art endeavor and find the process meditative and the end result very rewarding.

White Hot Bizarre

2006-11-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

Come out tomorrow (Thursday) evening to the Pasand Lounge for the White Hot Bizarre. Local designers will sell their hand crafted wares, perfect for the upcoming holidays. I will have some new holiday cards as well as some favorites from last year. I've been cranking out gift tags like a mad woman because hey, you can never have enough gift tags on hand. I like to use them on bottles of wine as a host gift.

Us vs. Them

2006-11-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

The postcards for the art show at Blow Salon came in a few days ago. I scanned them in so you can see here. There will be 14 artists, each one showcasing a few of their strongest art pieces. Food will be catered by the succulent Habib Cutolo, refreshing beer by Triple Rock Brewery, and delicious wine by Vintage Berkeley.

As promised, here are some pics of my collages:

Show details:
Opening reception: Saturday, December 2nd.
Time: 7:00pm to late!
Where: Blow Salon, 2112 Berkeley Way, Berkeley. 510-664-1971

My Artist Statement can be found here.

Drop by! We're not pretentious, just people who like to have fun!

Creature Comforts giveaway contribution

2006-11-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

I mentioned earlier that Akemi Designs will be contributing to the Creature Comforts Holiday Giveaway. Here is just one item of what you can expect in the filled-to-the-brim basket of goodies. It is a set of 8 notecards from the Dot Collection. Each Dot is made of Japanese silkscreened Yuzen paper. Sentiments such as "harmony" (there are four different sentiments) are handwritten by yours truly. Blank inside, there is plenty of room for you to write as much or as little as you want. These cards are perfect for any occasion, be it a thank you note for your friend who hosted that dinner party last Saturday, a congratulations for an engagement, or a simple "thinking of you" gesture. Along with this contribution, I've also donated a couple more goodies for the winner.

Upcoming shows

2006-11-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

I'll be participating in a few upcoming shows this holiday season. On Thursday evening, November 30th starting at 6:30pm to 9pm you'll find Akemi Designs and other local designers and artists selling are wares at the White Hot Bizarre trunk show at the Pasand Lounge in downtown Berkeley. Street parking is available (meters are free after 6pm) and it's also very close to the BART station. Foodies and drinkies will be served too.

Just a couple days after that, on the evening of Saturday, December 2nd, come to the opening art reception at Blow Salon, also located in Downtown Berkeley, just off of Shattuck on Berkeley Way (1 block north/parallel to University Ave.). Join me and about 12 other local artists as we each exhibit some of our art. I have some collage pieces (pictures to be posted here soon) as well as a mobile (which is currently a work-in-progress) that will be for sale (perfect for a holiday gift for that special someone...or yourself). Munch on yummy food, good drinks, and mingle with the artists!

And on Thursday evening, December 7th, I will be at another Appel & Frank hosted shopping event–Stockings and Stilettos. It will be in the Sutter Room at the Regency Center in San Francisco. Click here to see a list of designers that will be at the show. Be sure to check out Peggy Li Creations, Coco Luxe Confections, Yen Jewelry, and Twospace clothing. They'll all be there too! Get all your holiday shopping done in one night! Did I mention that with your entry fee you get free cocktails, spa treatments, and a goodie bag filled with treats?

I will have more details as these events draw nearer. In the meantime, be sure to mark your calendars and reserve these dates. And who knows, there may be another show or two in the mix somewhere.

Creature Comforts Holiday Giveaway

2006-10-30T09:34:00.000-08:00

Akemi Designs will be donating to Creature Comforts' Holiday Giveaway– a free contest to win a gift basket filled to the brim with goodies from over a dozen (and more to be added) independent artists, designers, and craftspeople. All you have to do is leave a comment (which will be kept private) with your name and email addy by December 10th. The winner will be announced on the 11th. Easy peasy!

Babes and Babies

2006-09-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Calling all moms and babies! Appel and Frank's newest shopping event is just for you – Babes and Babies! This Saturday, September 30th, at 11:00, come to the JCC in San Francisco located at 3200 California Street (@ Presidio) and check out Akemi Designs and 50 other designers' creations with goods selling at discounted prices for this special event.

MEK

2006-09-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

MissEvilKitty has an indie designer spotlight where she interviews, well, indie designers. She has taken the time to interview me. Read it here.

Indie Collective

2006-09-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

Akemi Designs is now listed in the paper goods section at the Indie Collective! The Indie Collective is a great place to shop from all your favorite indie businesses, artists and designers! Check it out:
http://www.indiecollective.net

Akemi Designs Spotlight at ZeVin Creations

2006-09-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

ZeVin Creations is a fellow greeting card company run by two sisters, Marisa and Maranda. They have a blog with weekly features of small businesses that promote their philosophy of giving "a gift within a card." This week spotlights Akemi Designs. Read all about it here.

Many thanks to Maranda and Marisa for featuring me!

Ongoing construction

2006-09-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Like the construction that has been taking place outside my residence for the past year, I too will be doing some construction–web construction. I'll be updating my website. I am limited in my skills as a web developer (but I'm learning), so I apologize for any wonkiness that appears and for the length it takes for everything to run smoothly again. However, I promise that it won't take years to complete, unlike this public works project that has been going on my street.

Rare Device

2006-09-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be in Brooklyn, check out Rare Device in Park Slope. It's a great shop run by California native Rena Tom. Akemi Designs leather wallets are now selling there. For those of you who can't make it to NY, check Rare Device out online:
http://www.raredevice.net/

WAHM Spotlight

2006-09-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

I've been featured as one of the Friday's Featured Five focusing on paper goods on the WAHM Spotlight. For those of you who aren't familiar with WAHM Spotlight, it is a blog that features businesses of Work-At-Home-Mothers. Check it out!
http://www.wahmspotlight.blogspot.com/

Good Egg

2006-09-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

What's the best way to announce your dearest hatchling? With the Good Egg! This tea length sunshine yellow and eggshell white birth announcement is layered over a textured chocolate brown colored cardstock. $3.95 each, minimum order of 10. Please inquire for details: info@akemidesigns.com

New blog featuring Asian products, designs, and designers

2006-08-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lilie of A Planet 4 Creation has a newly launched blog called Asian Buzz featuring Asian-related businesses, products, and other Asian goodness. She has generously asked me to join as a contributor so look for me there!

http://asianbuzz.blogspot.com/

Up and running again

2006-07-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

The website is back up!

Please excuse the mess

2006-07-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Akemi Designs currently is switching internet hosting providers. The website should be back up and running soon. Thank you for your patience.

Photos

2006-07-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

I've been taking some product pics in loft and outside in the courtyard. One of these days I'd love to own a digital SLR camera. Until then, it's good ol' 4 megalpixel Canon Powershot A85. These are pics of some of my gift tags.

Akemi Designs :: etsy shop

2006-05-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

I finally joined the etsy.com bandwagon and set up the Akemi Designs etsy shop. For those of you who do not know what Etsy is, I strongly urge you to check it out. It's basically an online marketplace for the indie arts and crafts community. There are so many talented people selling their goods with such a wide variety of selection that there's something for everyone, be it a floppy disk journal, silk-screened tees, hand knit iPod cozies, and of course tons of jewelry.

Since I'm a little slow getting my actual Akemi Designs website up with a working shopping cart, I decided it would be best to put some of my readymade stationery on the etsy shop so people could purchase my goodies easily. My internal conflict that I'll share with you is that on the one hand I want to look professional rather than hobbyist, but I don't feel very professional when I generate very few sales. Even though I would say the majority of the Etsy sellers are more part-time hobbyist than full time, the fact that they are selling their goods is better than me! Of couse, I already foresee some frustration from my side because many people on Etsy underprice their goods which will no doubt make my prices seem high to the average customer. You know which people are doing this not for sustainable profit when their retail prices should actually be their wholesale prices. It not only cheats them, but it makes the indie craft and small business community suffer because the public expects cheap prices for handmade goods. But that's a rant I will save for another time.

Anyway, check out my Etsy shop. I'll add a link on the side bar of my blog. Feedback and is welcome! And check back often as I'll try to add new things when I can (at least until I update my other website).

Bean counter

2006-04-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

In grade school, I considered myself pretty smart when it came to math. Although it seems like accounting isn't much more than adding and subtracting, it causes me great difficulty. I am happy, however, that I finally jumped in my accounting mess and am trying to make sense of it all. Quickbooks Pro is my best friend and my worst enemy.

Shopping score!

2006-04-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

The other day I went to my local XpedX store, also known as Arvey's. I love that place. It's a great warehouse store to get office supplies and paper. Their clearance sales are a steal, one of the best. I can spend forever going up and down all their aisles of paper, packing supplies, office stuff. My love for this place is like my dad's fondness for Orchard Supply Hardware. My god, I'm turning into my father!

So here is the latest loot I bought there:
box of 500 coin size envelopes
rolodex punch
date stamp
tape
4 packs of blue index cards
x-acto photo mat cutter
chalk (for Yoshimi)
scotch tape dispenser
brads
4 rolls vellum tape
large manilla envelopes
4 sheets glossy laser printer paper
auto mileage log book
total: $30

I've got my eye on this paper scorer/perferator. It's out of my price range at the moment, but I spoke with the manager and he told me the schedule it's on for markdowns. I have my fingers crossed that no one else wants it and it'll be mine.

Quick fix

2006-04-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a friend called me asking a favor. The SF non-profit that she works with is hosting a volunteer appreciation event and they were in the final stages of creating the invitation. Their regular graphic designer works pro bono, but she wasn't cutting it and the invitation was in dire need of editing. They wanted to send it to the printers that very same day I got the call, so I quickly redrafted a new design and sent it to them for preview. They liked it and so I created the necessary files and they were able to get it to the printer before the day was over. My design isn't anything specatcular (having less than 2 hours to complete the project) and the invitation itself is very simple (a regular 8.5"x11" paper folded into quarters), but I can say it's a hell of a lot better than what it looked like before. Unfortunately I won't get any credit for it since the front and back of the invitation card was not my design, only the inside. I suppose I could have written my name on the back since I did do a part of the design, but since I didn't know the other designer's name, I didn't want to take all the credit. I will keep my fingers crossed for future projects with this non-profit and hopefully they'll dump the previous designer.

This was a good experience for me. I'm more of a fine arts designer (if you can call me that) rather than graphic arts, so this was good practice getting to use all those graphics software programs I have.

Arigato

2006-04-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

The latest design for my Thank You cards is the Arigato Stripe. A colored strip of origami paper lines the bottom of the card. A coordinating velvet blossom floats in the upper right hand corner. "Arigato" in Japanese hiragana characters is stamped with black acid-free ink. "Thank you" is handwritten by yours truly in the lower right hand corner, above the colored stripe.

Shown (above) in red stripe with pink blossom,
and (left) lime green stripe with forest green blossom

Welcome to the Akemi Designs blog

2006-04-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Here I will post all things regarding Akemi Designs with periodical rants and raves about running a small business.