We've had a lot of little adventures recently. I'm usually exhausted, Julia's almost potty-trained, and Tomo's excited to go on a weekend getaway in a couple of weeks.
Did you know that Yamagata prefecture is home to 12 wineries...and more than 50 sake breweries?
The almost-no-alone-time aspect of motherhood is getting to me.
Last month I started my own Patreon in which I make sock monkeys, other stuffed animals, and short videos about making or selling aforementioned animals. I currently have 2 patrons, and that is awesome but also a little sad. I tried using social media, talking to other pro-patreon groups (the unofficial and official Amanda Palmer patron fan-clubs on facebook), and doing so regularly.
I added pictures. I made a silly jingle and recorded us singing it.
I even entered to a "Patreon Patron Trade" sort-of group where you sign up to give a dollar to another artist who in turn does the same for you. Having more patrons helps get others interested they say, and it works. One of the guys on there has 70 patrons!
And because he has 70 patrons, he doesn't need my patronage and would be unlikely to notice an extra dollar, much less reciprocate.
So I found someone making about $7, but since her last post was months ago, she seems to have given up and also has not reciprocated. I still gave her a dollar last month.
I posted in the group, and one of my two patrons liked it, and otherwise it has gone unnoticed.
The big pluses for the Patreon thing for me:
1) I get to make sock monkeys out of the socks I keep getting from friends.
2) I get to give the sock monkeys to winners of that month's raffle, so I don't have to keep them.
3) Shipping is surprisingly less than what I am making on Patreon.
4) I could (and did) become patron to a few more people on Patreon because, thanks to my amazing duo of my patrons, I can finally afford to do it.
The unfortunate thing is that it isn't catching on as well as I had hoped and I am essentially giving the animals away, but it's alright overall. Maybe time will help.
Want a chance to win a sock monkey or sock lemur (this month's raffle prizes)? Check out my Patreon here.
I also realized that Art and Crafts on Patreon gets very little attention. Maybe if I use more of the multimedia aspect-- Vlogging about life as a Texan parent in Japan, or random things we find, or whatever. I could do a craft vlog. I just need time to record and edit.
Maybe after GISHWHES.
Speaking of which, GISHWHES is almost upon us! Less than a month left and I am super excited to announce that my team is almost full, with just a couple of people we're waiting on and we will be ready to roll. This year, I'm saving $20 to order a box of kale from Tohoku farmers in Aomori. It's going to be awesome.
If you need more info on the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, check out the website here.
The last new thing I am working into is selling designer clothes I find in Sendai second-hand shops on ebay. Usually I use my second-hand-sale binges to revitalize Julia's wardrobe or sometimes my own, but this time I've hunted down some fancy things that might be worth more to someone than what I paid plus shipping.
So that's what I am doing.
What are you up to?
Also, there's an amazing new gelato place in Shiogama that Hana showed me the other day and it was AMAZING!
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