It's been a blast!

 Aloha my friends...
I've said my goodbye on Facebook and the Y&FH Blog and I wasn't even really thinking I needed to do it here, as my time on my own blog is so incredibly rare, but I felt it was only appropriate.  This is the message I shared on my FB page...

yup, Yumi & Fumi Handmade is closing up shop. Several different circumstances lead us to this decision and we are definitely a bit sad. BUT I believe things all happen for a reason and Yumi & Fumi Handmade has brought together so many amazing people from allllll over the world. I found myself emailing with customers from Slovenia, Spain, Holland, Dubai, Italy, Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Germany, the UK and all over the United States from Hawaii to New Jersey and that was WONDERFUL! Although I know many of my friends are not crafters, I think you can all see how it was this amazing phenomenon of connection. So many different people from so many different countries and cultures all coming together to share their creations.

That is the treasure that I take away from the experience of Yumi & Fumi Handmade. You know...I do love the customer service industry, but in particular the craft industry. It's filled with such endless creativity and sharing and friendship and community. The support we received from everyone, near and far, was never waning. Our team...you just couldn't ask for a more freakin fantastic group of friends. Seriously. Each retail show that we did (all those pictures we'd post) all those friends did that out of love and support and not for pay. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! Chuck Garcia Kat Wong Chin Masako Inoue Jesse Ontiveros and Kathy Dinh...you all seriously ROCK!


and Mike Eaton...he is an amazing carpenter and I consider him one of my best friends.  He was the one to build what we needed for our booth at the retail shows. But it wasn't just that...it was his invigorating and spirited support of everything...there are no words, Mike. Thank you for being such an amazing friend and also for always making sure our booth was looking sharp.

We also had a Design Team sent to us from heaven For those of you who might now know...a Design Team or DT are fans who for maybe a little crafty gift box and some stamps work their crafty lil' fingers off creating projects to show the world what can be done with our images. They open windows with their imaginations and inspire everyone. If you have never checked the blog and seen who these ladies are...I think you should. The items they created all started from a simple stamp, some ink, some paper, a little glue, some markers or color pencils...and became masterpieces in our eyes
http://yumifumihandmadecrafts.blogspot.com/p/our-designers.html
  

There are some other craft projects I've been eager to get started.  Maybe once everything settles, I can begin those and maybe even start to share and actually post on this blog :) hehehe...WHUT?! LOL!!

Well, anyway, I am thankful for this experience and the friends that have come with it and now I welcome the next journey...

Aloha everyone