COLOURFUL T-SHIRTS, CLOTHING & GIFTS INSPIRED BY JAPAN - WORLDWIDE SHIPPING
Worldwide shipping | EU customers please click here

#bestnine2017

Best Nine 2017

Best Nine 2017

Here’s my #bestnine2017! My nine photos with the most likes on Instagram from this year.

I’m not sure if it’s a completely accurate reflection of the highlights of the year…. we’ve got:

  • Being a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year in the Coventry Telegraphy Business Awards.
  • My snowham! (Also one of the most popular posts on Facebook!)
  • Disney World – appears twice, both at the Magic Kingdom.
  • MCM London Comic Con in October – I was ill and feeling awful the whole weekend; that show was a real struggle. I hope it doesn’t happen again as it so hard to talk to everyone when I lost my voice. Being self-employed is amazing and I wouldn’t swap it for the world, but you don’t get sick days, so sometimes you just have to get on with it, however you’re feeling.
  • MCM Manchester Comic Con
  • Bunny fairy lights – proudly on my Christmas tree along with my plushie hamsters.

Also, I’m wearing the same dress in several of these. Shock confession: unlike celebrities, I wear my clothes more than once before throwing them out. If you find a dress you like, wear it at every opportunity!

How to get your BestNine

Make your own best nine photo compilation on https://2017bestnine.com. It’s free – just enter your Instagram profile name and you can share or download the image.

So what were the highlights of 2017?

Having an amazing time at Disney World

One of my favourite places in the world – I love the theming and magical atmosphere. Still a few vlogs to edit – they’ll be on YouTube in the new year.

Meeting a Harajuku Icon

I met Haruka Kurebayashi, who’s also the cutest person ever! Here’s my interview with her, at Dreamy Bows’ kawaii party at Artbox. It was so much fun, with some real magical moments.

Business Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist

I don’t really think of myself as an entrepreneur and I’m the least business-y person, so it still surprises me that I was a finalist for Business Entrepreneur of the Year. Cakes with Faces was definitely the smallest company there (the winner in my category had over 1000 employees!) and I was proud to represent micro-businesses, independent creatives and bring some colour to the awards ceremony.

Painting a Giant Bear

It’s not every day you paint a giant bear with cute strawberries. It took 8 days – each coat of green took 5 hours! Strawbeary was on display in Birmingham for 10 weeks over the summer for The Big Sleuth, and now lives at a strawberry farm (where you can visit him!).

A Million Views on YouTube

My channel reached a million views – which may not be much compared to some channels but it means a lot to me. This year my channel’s gone from 3K to 7K subscribers. I work really hard on my videos and spend a huge amount of time on them – many of them take several days to edit. There’s lots more planned for 2018, including new Japan videos (can’t wait for my next trip in the spring!). Making videos can feel one-sided sometimes, so leave me a comment if you watch them! I always try to reply to comments (and I love chatting about Japan!).

YouTube channel about Japan

Gallery Show in New York

“They came from Planet Rainbow Sparkles” was the perfect show for my artwork! It was such a fun idea – an art show arranged by colour. I had my favourite colour purple, and created a canvas called “Cute Explosion Supernova” for Clutter Gallery in New York:

Cute Explosion Supernova

Virgin Media Pioneer of the Week

Thank you to Virgin Media for featuring me as Pioneer of the Week, way back in January. I’ve always liked being different and doing things my own way, so it’s great to be recognised for that.

Virgin Media Pioneers

YouTube Favs wearing Cakes with Faces

This year it was great to see some of my favourites on YouTube wearing my designs. It probably comes as no surprise that I watch a lot of videos about Japan, so it was great to see Harajuku fashion vlogger and NHK World presenter Cathy Cat wearing my dresses, and my number one favs Simon and Martina wearing my designs.

Simon & Martina's livestream

Happy New Year!

I’d like to thank you for all of your support this year. The only reason Cakes with Faces is still going is because of your orders – I wouldn’t be able to do this otherwise so THANK YOU. I love the Cakes with Faces community and really do enjoy chatting with you, so thanks for all your comments, messages and likes this year – and to everyone I’ve met at shows.

Happy New Year, and here’s to a wonderful 2018 full of exciting surprises and plans!