Snow model

 Since I had a snowman hanging out in my garden, I put him to work!

 
Here Snowy is sporting the adorable rainbow cat patch!

And here he is wearing the cutest cat paw pins!

You too can be trendy like Snowy. Get you pin and patch on www.dinafragola.com

December promo

Cute in my remodeled bedroom!

Hey, look, they'd be cute in New York too!

If you buy the patch and pin combo you can get 15% off in my shop with code "noel18" until the end of December.
In my Etsy shops, there's still 15% off until December 30 (no code).

Moving to Shopify

I have started the big move to Shopify.
I figured arther than spending 30 Euro each  month on renevwing on Etsy, I'd rather spend that money somewhere else.
The new shop still needs a lot of work as Shopify is not very intuitive...not as complex as Magento but defintely not as smooth as Etsy.
Still have no idea why tags create new section in your shop, for exemple...and it's hard to find where things are...but I'm getting there.
The pin and patch are already up and you can now buy them there ;)
Here's the temporary link to the shop https://dina-fragola.myshopify.com/  but it will be soon link to my own domain.

Of patch and pin and whether pigs have wings...

Taking photos of my pin and patch all over the place...
I have postponed the next designs as the lack of sales is not very encouraging. 

 Buy them there:

Cute rainbow cat patch
Cute paw pins

 
Chloé was thrilled to model the pin and patch...

Back from the hospital

My cute Marie PJ's 

I finally had my appendix removed, 6 months after that major health scare.
As you can imagine, I was not looking forward to the experience. It was my first anesthesia, my first planned stay at the hospital.
I got there at 7 am...to find out my surgery was planned at 2 pm *cries* . Long day. I was hungry. Desperately wanted some coffee, got a Xanax. That's bitter too.
All went well. The only really unpleasant memory is waking up with the breathing tube still in place (which is normal, by the way) and me struggling to get it out.
I also remember checking if I could still move all my limbs (which is not something I thought about before the surgery...go figure how brains work...).
I was not in  any pain, other than a slight headache. Even now, it's more like having exercised too much.
I was in and out all night...I probably would have slept all through the night if not for a dramatically sick roommate.
I could leave on the following afternoon. I still walk a little bit funny and the stitches are itchy.  I sleep a lot and the compression tights are annoying but I am otherwise OK.
And I am so happy that it is over.

PS: Get your cute rainbow cat patch now!

New items, preview and coupon code

I am regularly adding new items to both my shops. Most items are OOAK

For jewelry (and PATCH),  shop here
For ear plugs , shop here

My perfect adorable and ultra cute rainbow patch is available here
Reminder: it ships free with any other item from my shops!
 Also I have a coupon code running until November30, 2018
With code NOEL18 you'll get 15% off any order of  minimum 10 Euros.

And here's a preview of my first pin which will be  added to the shop at the end of the month!

My first embroidered patch!

My first patch is here! I am super stoked about how it turned out...even better than I expected! Now I am waiting for my first sale with bated breath ;)

Cute fluffy cat embroidered, high quality, patch in rainbow colors. 
Patch is 7cm (2.75") in diameter.It has an iron-on back (suitable for stronger and heat resistent fabrics like jeans) but it might be preferable to sew it on for durability.It is based on a doodle I made of my cat Pikachu when he passed away. So, to me it's a sweet way to remember him too.Suitable for clothes, backpacks, hats, camera bags, notebooks...Would make a cute stocking stuffer too.Free shipping if ordered with another item.

Available here.

Looks good on my jeans jacket

Looks cool on my backpack

Looks fun on a cap

Looks great on my camera bag

Nerves

OK, all the stuff I need for my first new item line have been ordered.  The first batch of patches is being produced, I have finalized how I am going to ship them out...and now I am over anxious.
What if this idea crashes and burns like pretty much all my other plans?
My first pin design is ready, all I have to do is to send it over to the manufacturer...but all the "whatifs" are creeping in my mind...

 I ordered new paper stickers (from Vista Print)

I decided to use up all my "old" business cards before ordering new ones...just in case...

 Fingers crossed the design  comes out as vivid and cute as I envisioned it...

Patches and self doubt

OK. I have ordered my first custom patches. I am super nervous, full of self doubt. Let's face it, nothing I ever did met much success. I am on the point of giving up all together. It's too hot, I am too lonely and just generally very unhappy with my current life with next to zero social interaction.
Warning, going into very personal stuff now...you don't have to read if that makes you uncomfortable.(writing it mostly for myself)

My family has never been very supportive of anything I chose to do. The pressure was terribly (still is) overwhelming at time. I got stuck in a life I didn't want just out of sheer guilt...how could I dare to want things for myself...selfish girl! How did I dare to go out with friends (let alone boyfriends)? How did I dare to go away alone (L.A. seemed like about far enough to get away, it was not)? How did I dare to have a life?
Unfortunately guilt always brought me back, cut me out from friends...guilt is still holding me and most of those people have been dead for over 10 years...And now I cannot get out of this way of thinking that I actually don't deserve anything. I don't deserve friends, I don't deserve a job I like, I don't deserve a boyfriend, I don't deserve anything that makes me happy really because I am selfish.
And even though I now know the problem is not and never was me, my lizard brain doesn't want to know anything and keeps me in my old non-working unhappy ways.

I should get the patches in a month or so. They'll be sold in my DinaFragola shop.

New project

I have been half-heartingly working on a new project. No need to keep it a secret as pretty much no one cares  nor wants to steal my ideas LOL
I was super excited when I first came up with the idea, needed a new graphic tablet (got a Wacom, who would have thought I'd get a Wacom one day...certainly not me).  I installed the softwares I need...and nothing...
I want to make patches. Been searching for a suitable company  but nothing I am happy with so far.  So if you know of a company that  makes custom patches (and maybe enameled pins), let me know. Preferably in Europe, and not the in UK.

Frank ignoring me