One of my new goals is to do more book events. Not only do the events help promote the books to which I dedicated mega effort, they’re great fun, and I’m challenging myself to get better at public speaking. I’m not a shy person, but my college speech class permanently scarred me, and I’ve avoided piping up in front of groups larger than two people whenever possible. I may have mentioned this before, but confronted with an audience, my physiology betrays me: sweaty palms and forehead, shaky voice, two glow-in-the-dark red spots on each cheek (on the face, I should clarify).

My first official “reading” was at Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge Island last week, and I had a blast (thank you, Victoria!). The women who gathered were sweet and enthusiastic about crafts — a few women even sewed projects from the book prior to the event and brought them to the event. They were all wonderful, but I was blown away by Joan, who created an origami pillow out of a repurposed men’s button down shirt, using the front placket as the pillow closure. I wish I’d gotten a photo, but alas, my phone ran out of juice that evening. Although I wasn’t able to document it, it was the best possible way to start off the mini, very local Sewing Happiness tour! Oh, and here’s that adorable book trailer that Sasquatch Books made:

And guess what? Little Kunoichi turns ONE tomorrow!!!!! A whole year. Can you believe it? I certainly can’t — that was the fastest year in the history of time, as far as I’m concerned. What an amazing, amazing 12 months.

Anyway, in the hopes of conquering the public speaking jitters, I’ve got some events coming up! There are a few more getting finalized, and if I ever figure it out, I’ll add updated info to the sidebar.

SEWING HAPPINESS

Thursday, May 5th 5:30pm-ish // Drygoods Design // Art Walk (technically, this isn’t a book event but I created watercolors that tie in with the book. The show will be up for the rest of the month, but I’ll be at Drygoods tomorrow evening!

Sunday, May 8th 3-5pm // Queen Anne Book Co. // Mother’s Day Event with custom illustrations (by me) + crafts + refreshments!

Saturday, June 25th Noon // Urban Craft Uprising // Book signing

LITTLE KUNOICHI

Saturday, May 7th 11am //Seattle Public Central Library// Family Story Time + Origami-making

Monday, May 30th (time tbd) // Seattle Japanese Garden // Reading + Presentation

If you’re in the Seattle area, hope to see you at one (or more) of these events!