October 2025

Welcome to the first Hanami Monthly Blog Post!

As a special thank you, the first 10 people to use the following code SAKURA10 will get 10% off their first order with Novae Co.

With it being the first, I wanted to cover the inspiration behind Hanami Monthly. Other topics to explore will be: goals for the rest of the year, some behind the scenes of getting off the waitlist for MCM Birmingham, as well as other general October spooky goodness.

To start off this blog post, I thought I should go into the inspiration behind Hanami Monthly.

It first started with Novae Co, a small business I run. I always knew that one day I would want to expand beyond etsy and have my own website. Somewhere to create a portfolio, compile links, share my products, and explore some inner ramblings...

The inner ramblings? These will be found in the Hanami Monthly blog posts!

Hanami is the custom of viewing cherry blossoms, and comes from the kanji for 'flower' and 'see' ('花' and '見' respectively). Hanami is about appreciating the fleeting beauty of sakura, holding dear passing moments, and accepting that even things that do not last are to be cherished.

With Hanami Monthly, I want to encourage this. Not just when the cherry blossoms bloom, but every month. Every season.

Whilst Hanami is a pretty name, it also resonates with a big reason for why I want to create this blog. Here I want to explore the positive experiences in my life, the happy moments, and cute treasures. With the world so messy, and mental health an eternal struggle, I want to have a space to share the good.

In October, I have made sure to do many fun things with friends and family to celebrate the season. This included, pumpkin picking, visiting Alton Tower's Scarefest, and going on a horror walk at Elvaston Castle!

Of them all, I think the pumpkin picking was my favourite. I did this with my twin, her boyfriend, and my older sister. With my older sister moving to New Zealand soon, it was important to me to enjoy this time with her, and the day ended up going so well!

At this pumpkin picking farm, they had marshmallow toasting, a corn maze, and so many pumpkins to choose from. I personally enjoyed all the ugly looking gourds available too.

During the corn maze, my older sister and I got stuck in a serious of loops. With three entrances/exists to the maze, I think we chose a fake one. That absolutely must be the case, as I have no idea how there could have been a way out.

Luckily, I used my brain to come up with the ingenious idea of cutting through a sparse patch of corn to a path visible on the other side. After that, it was so easy getting out. So, I definitely think the first entrance was a trap.

After the maze, we roasted marshmallows over a wood pit, and then took our pumpkin hauls home.

A couple weeks later, and it was Scarefest time! Having never done Scarefest, this was another thing I wanted to enjoy. Again, with my older sister moving away, I wanted to enjoy this with her.

After almost a decade of not visiting Alton Towers, I had started to develop a fear of rollercoasters. All I could remember was the fear of travelling up the track of Oblivion or Air, and I absolutely dreaded that feeling.

So, of course, I was taken straight onto Toxicator - the brand new ride that likes to use the phrase 'centrifugal force' quite a lot. For someone who said 'I don't like this' on repeat during the ride, I actually really did enjoy it. It's just a bit scary looking up at the sky, whilst hanging upside down at an incredible height, waiting for the spiralling drop back down.

We did only manage to go on three rides before the Scare Mazes opened. The other two rides were Nemesis Reborn and Wickerman. The queue for Wickerman was the worst, and lead to many of our group experiencing backpain from standing for so long. It did mean we only did one of the three Scare Mazes, too, as we were all suffering too much to stand in queues any longer.

It's a shame, but I really did have fun that day.

Lastly, for the seasonal fun, was a horror walk called Scream Time. With the marketing looking so good, I was expecting this to be a lot scarier than it was, and also to include more than it did.

If not for my friends being there with me, I think the evening would have been very disappointing. This isn't something I would look to do next year, unfortunately; I would want to find a better experience to do with friends.

Other things done this month:

Several Japanese lessons! At the end of September, I started studying Japanese as part of a Languages for All programme. So far, it has introduced me to some grammar rules I didn't yet know, and I would say it is doing more than duolingo could after a 500+ day streak. Kanji is only just being introduced, but I am excited to get properly into it!

A hospital appointment! I had 9 tubes of blood taken from me this time, which is the most I have ever had drawn at once. It was a Short Synacthen Test, including saliva samples, so I couldn't eat for an hour before the test, or for the half an hour during it. I spent the whole time being taunted by a box of biscuits.

Getting distracted by a local artistan market. I went into town to buy three things, and bought none of them. I completely forgot about my goals when I saw the artisan market was on, and began to stock up on Christmas presents! And I also tasted some of the most amazing chocolate fudge ever.

This month, I also got off the waiting list to trade at MCM Birmingham!

For those who don't know, MCM is one of the largest conventions in the UK, and this year will be my first time trading there!

I am super excited but also super nervous! For small businesses, it can cost a lot of money to trade at conventions like this, and it is always a struggle travelling with stock over public transport. However, it is such a great opportunity, and I love getting the chance to talk to fellow artists and traders!

The set-up at Hyper Japan

Since getting off the waitlist...

I have ordered A LOT of paperbags, both with and without handles. These are super important when selling at events, and running out can be stressful. So, I have been sure to get plenty.

Bought some sticky vinyl! For making my display colourful, wrapping the cube display panels in sticky vinyl is super effective. I didn't order enough last time, so painted some of the squares instead, which didn't quite give off what I was going for.

I have also ordered some new banners! These will also help improve my set up display, I hope. Once they come through, along with the vinyl, I can get to work properly trialing the table display, which is exciting!

Ordered some new pins! My pin manu was super helpful and let me know that a rush order could be done. These pins are a redo of an old design, and I am so looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Bringing them back to my lineup will be amazing, as these pins really encompass my brand!

For the rest of the year, I hope to keep up with this blog! That is a big goal of mine. I also need to become more active on my instagram, design some new products, and plan events for 2026. There's also a range of Christmassy fun I want to do, largely involving Christmas markets, but also maybe some ice skating and hijinks with friends.

Maybe I will be able to update you all on that next time, at the end of November!

Happy Halloween!