Don't Forget Your Message

At Tiny Hands I provide my customers with free gift boxes so that they can readily give the jewelry to friends and family. Even if it's a gift to yourself, it's a very warm and fuzzy feeling to open a nicely wrapped box containing items you adore. I also encourage shoppers to include a custom message to the recipient to make the gift extra special. Over the past year I've gotten cute and fun messages, proposals, and even tear-jerking notes for loved ones in the hospital.

I love building relationships with my customers; simply knowing who they are, what's going on in their lives and how my scented jewelry plays a part in them is a very satisfying element in what I do.

It's so very sweet when someone who cares about you remembers what your favorite foods are and can make you smile (and laugh) with my adorable scented jewelry. :-)

What sweet thing have you done for a loved one today?

- Mei
http://tinyhandsonline.com

Mmm... Sushi!

After I graduated from college in December last year, I moved to a little city by Minneapolis in Minnesota. One of the first few things we did was to search highly rated dining locations surrounding us, and to my absolute delight I came across some of the most amazing restaurants around. As fate would have it, I soon met my second love (after Peter, of course), Kami, a Japanese Sushi and Steakhouse restaurant:

After having tried the all-you-can-eat sushi buffet (I LOVE buffets, I know it's reaaally bad but I love my food so much I can't help it) it became all I could ever think about. 

The food was so decadent and the quality was simply superb. It was affordable too, for what you get out of it. 

Their steaks are so wonderful. Oh so delicious! My mouth is watering at the thought! 

I'm surprised at how raw fish, as gross as it may sound, can appeal to so many people at any age group. I've talked to kids who love sushi and it makes me wonder why they don't think it's strange!

I'd go back to Kami in a heartbeat. Highly recommended to anyone in the area!

Couldn't leave without showing you my salmon sushi charms! :D

Love,
- Mei
Tiny Hands Online

I'm Gonna Be Published!

Some time late last year I got an email from an editor at Quirk Books publishing company (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Creepy Cute Crochet, Witch Craft) asking for my contribution to their new book, Micro Crafts, due to be released in Fall 2011. I think I almost fainted. I knew I wasn't entirely grasping the reality of the idea then, but things are moving so fast now - the contract's signed, the deliverables have been sent, photos have been taken and now we're into marketing the book to popular bookstores across the United States.

Here are some cupcakes I sent them:

Personally, swirly top cupcakes are not my favorite but I see how cute they can be if their proportions are done right!

I sent them a batch of cupcakes and lollipops this week that they can include in their sales kits to the bookstores. I am beyond excited. I wondered how the editor found my work and my website, but soon found that it was from purely organic search. At the time I was using Sarah Neuber's Jewelry Shop which I found to be a very impressive ecommerce theme for Wordpress. It's totally SEO-optimized-out and in just a couple of days of putting up the website I found myself on first pages for a lot of relevant keywords! 

I've moved on into a different ecommerce system now (how many times is she going to keep changing her website!?) but that's another story for another day!