Kawaiian Island Featured on Super Cute Kawaii!

I should have written about this last week but the week got away from me.  My online shop that I have been building was featured on a popular Kawaii website called, Super Cute Kawaii! 

I was contacted by them last Monday and they let me know that I would be part of their April featured vendors.  I am still working on getting initial sales so I am hoping their feature will generate some traffic to my online store. 

You can check out Super Cute Kawaii here and the featured article is here.

If you are interested in checking out my shop, Kawaiian Island, please check it out here.

www.cafepress.com/kawaiianisland

Some cute products from my shop:

Hobby + Hound

My first attempt at a side business will be an Etsy store that I'm opening called Hobby + Hound.  The name sums up two things which are very important to me and my family and ties in quite well with this blog as well.  The focus of the store will initially be patterns and kits that people can buy and then make their own dolls, pins, etc.  I plan to have a lot of felt and crochet works as well as some paper crafts as well.  Of course, I will also be selling things I've made including jewelry, dolls, bouquets, and whatever else strikes my fancy.  I've been working on my brand logo and above is what I'm starting with.  I'm a sucker for minimalist, classic southern looks.  This is a great logo for me to get started with. 

Additionally, I'll be using my hounds for mascots.  Below is Ms. Mable Jean.  I'm experimenting a bit to get her and Molly put into cameos or silhouettes.  I think they will make a great addition to the shop and of course, who doesn't love a M&M story... ornery girls.

Side Business

I've been a bit hesitant to post about this topic, because well, I have a lot of side business ideas, even full business ideas, that never happen. I mean for them to take off but I get distracted.  I'm often like an ADD kid in a toy store.   Since this last December, I have been toying around with the idea of starting a Kawaii store -- both online and at a physical location in Wichita.  To open a physical store is quite a big leap and requires leaving my job, making myself 100% committed towards building the best business that I can.  And to be honest, I don't even know if people in Wichita would really shop at a Kawaii store.  It's one thing for the girls and I to be into all of this, but would other people in Wichita be as interested?  So before I take any drastic steps, I have been taking a series of baby steps towards the goal of a store.

My work thus far has been focused on where I can purchase from wholesale and determining what kinds of products I would want to carry.  As you've probably noticed, my girls and I are a little nuts about Japanese candy... so that's a given.  Japanese snacks are included as well.  Next is Sanrio and San-X products including stationary, bento supplies, plushes, squishies, etc.  There are some other licensed products I am still exploring including some of the Manga and Anime stuff as I think that could draw in more business as well.

The next step that I am moving towards is the online store.  It has smaller risk and I can run it while still working full time.  One of the concepts of the online store is the idea of a Kawaii gift basket. I think a gift basket full of Hello Kitty and Japanese candy is just the kind of present I would love to receive (Valentine's Day - heck yes, Birthday - uh-huh, Christmas - wouldn't complain at all), but would other people?  I am testing the waters with the basket idea as I think this is something I can build online, which would be the next small step forward.  I have just ordered the products for a first basket and am probably going to do an Ebay sale on the first basket to see what kind of interest I get. I've sold quite a bit on Ebay in the past so it would be an easy place to start.  The targeted customer base would be US customers as most of the products I would sell are not easily found in the states and thus more desirable.  

In the next few weeks I should have an update on the basket and a link for those of you that may be interested.  It will be full of Japanese candy and have a Rilakkuma theme.  Rilakkuma is a teddy bear character by San-X shown above and very, very popular in Japan.

So fingers crossed that I'm able to keep the momentum and others will find value in what I'm selling.