Shop Small This Holiday Season

I know you're getting flooded with Black Friday sales ads already and I may be late to the party, but I hope you'll consider small businesses this holiday season when doing your shopping. Support from customers like you are what help us continue doing what we love.

For 2025, I'm running one of my biggest Thanksgiving weekend sales ever! Read on for deals of all the freebies!

Everyone Loves Extras! (11/28–11/30)

Friday through Sunday (11/28-11/30) we're doing bonuses with purchase!

Spend at least $50 and get a FREE plush! Note the plush you want in the prompt at check out.

Select from the following:

• French Roast

• Roary Tiger

• Champagne Mewcaron

• Peppurrmint Mocha

• Gingercat Latte

• Hamburger Bun

Spend at least $100 and get the FREE plush AND a lucky pack with 5 random pins!

Wow, Wombats! (11/28–11/30)

Friday through Sunday (11/28-11/30) buy a wombat plush with all three poops (how often can I say 'poop' professionally??) and get a FREE Wombat Fences t-shirt!*

Make sure to put in the size you want (unisex sizing) at the prompt when you purchase the plush. Color will be random draw from orange, yellow or cream.

Cyber Monday Free Shipping!

For Cyber Monday, use code CYBERMON25 to get FREE US shipping!

That's it. It's that simple. So here's a cute RAV4 RAVioli for attention, LOL

*All the Un-fun Disclaimer Stuff

Friday through Sunday deals (11/28–11/30)

• $50 freebie deal: Desired plush must be indicated in the form at check out otherwise, pick will be random from the list of eligible plush. One plush per qualifying order.

• $100 freebie deal: Desired plush must be indicated in the form at check out otherwise, pick will be random from the list of eligible plush. Pins are random pick and will range from 1.5" to 2" sizes. One plush and one pack of pins per qualifying order.

• Wombat deal: Shirt size must be indicated at check out. Color is totally random pick. Wombat shirt deal also qualifies for the above freebie deals.

• All offers are while supplies last.

• Cyber Monday Free Shipping applies to US orders only.

Kimchi for a Cause!

I’m just going to get right to it. Times are really tough and many in this country are facing food insecurities due to the government shutdown, job loss and the rising cost of groceries. This is the time when we need to come together to help our neighbors.

This week, I’m partnering with the Short Term Emergency Aid Committee (STEAC) in my county. They rely on donations from community members to help others get back on their feet. I’ve donated to them in the past through their holiday family adoptions. But the urgency is now and we can’t wait until the holidays.

Here’s how you can help! I’m calling it Kimchi for a Cause.

• Shop my website between Saturday, November 1 through Friday, November 7.

• All sales during this time frame will be totaled up and 50% of the total sales amount will be donated to STEAC.

• To be fully transparent, I’ll be posting on social and in a followup email with the total sales amount from the week and the receipt for the donation to STEAC.

• Can’t donate financially? Help me get the word out via social and tell your friends!

You can get a jump on holiday shopping, know you’re also helping out those in need and also supporting a small business. It’s a win, win, win!

Thank you in advance for any help you can give! Wombat believes that together, we CAN!

Korean Mythologicals: Haetae

Plush Korean haetae sitting at the Korean Friendship Bell pavilion in Long Beach, CA.

On Monday, I dropped off the last of my haetae plush to be sent to a customer.

In 2021, I ran the Kickstarter for this plush thinking it was super niche and would end up being an expensive passion project. During the pandemic, I had started doing designs representing traditional Korean heritage. In my research, I came across haetae, mythological creatures believed to stand for justice and eat fire. And I remembered seeing their statues outside Gyeonbokgung when I had visited Seoul many years before.

To my surprise, the haetae has sold much better than the Korean tiger plush that also funded in the same project. Whenever I had them at cons, I had a little sign that had information about what they were since unlike dragons and phoenixes, they aren't as well known in Western culture. People would often stop and read it or snap a picture if they bought one so they could remember the information. It was such a cool feeling to see people pausing in the hurry scurry of con to learn a bit about my culture.

Plush haetae sitting at the Korean Friendship Bell in Long Beach, CA.

It is a bit of a bummer that I've now totally sold out of them just as everyone is getting interested in Korean mythology thanks to Kpop Demon Hunters being a huge success (such an amazing movie) and the hallyu wave that's been going on for a few years now. I’d like to restock them, but with the current tariff situation, I really don’t know when I can. However, I do have haetae on other items and I intend to keep doing more designs and drawing even more Korean mythologicals. So I hope you’ll stay tuned!

Korean Friendship Bell

Korean Friendship Bell pavilion.

I took the pictures of my plush at the Korean Friendship Bell in Long Beach, CA. I had found out about this place when I was looking for photoshoot locations for my Korean items and so one summer when I was down in Southern California, I made sure to get over there to see it. It sits at the coast and has a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. They ring it on specific days during the year. You can visit this site to read about the history of the bell and the dates when they ring it.

Detail of the intricately painted roof of the pavilion showing the traditional dancheong style of Korean decoration.

Important Note about Tariffs

First of all, let me set some things straight:

• Tariffs are 100% the responsibility of the customer, NOT the country of origin. This is money that comes out of the pocket of the small business owner who orders product from overseas.

• Tariffs are charged by customs once the product reaches the US and are based on the declared value provided by the shipper.

It’s been a very tough time to be a small business owner. The unfortunate reality is that the tariff situation is constantly in flux, and with how tariffs are charged at the current rate when the product arrives, it makes it nearly impossible to plan ahead for product ordering. Many products have long lead times of at least a month if not more. Small business owners like myself do not have the massive operating budget that large corporations have and thus aren’t as able to cover massive financial hits due to a sudden increase in a tariff that wasn’t as high when the item was ordered. Due to this, I’ve seen so many fellow small business owners scaling back and worried that the current trade war is going to be the death sentence for all their hard work. Not going to lie, it’s been depressing.

Kimchi Kawaii is not planning on shutting down, but I did want to give an update on some projects and pricing going forward as there are going to be some changes.

• Plush: all plush Kickstarter projects are on hold for the time being. I am a small brand and there is no way I can afford what is currently a 145% tariff on my plush. To do a plush run, we'd have to raise well over $12k just to make ONE plush design.

  • Current, in stock plush will remain at their regular prices, but if you've had your eye on some designs get them now cause once they're gone they're gone.

• You will see an increase in the self-produced plush again. I've fired up the sewing machine once more. I'm also working on developing more patterns like Spam Moosubi and more mola mola!

• Purrista Pawfee: I know this has been a very popular series, but all good things must come to an end. I've had the series around for 8 years now and I've noticed sales slowing down on them. So make sure to complete your collections as I will not be restocking as stuff sells out due to tariffs, but also so I can make room for new ideas (pasta anyone??).

• Enamel Pins: I currently have the Seoul Food pins wrapping up production. They were funded through Backer Kit's Pintopia project before all this started happening. I really hope I don't get slammed with a huge tariff as I didn't raise that much extra to cover something this high.

  • All backers are getting their pins at the pricing that they paid during the campaign, but I will most likely have to increase the price on the pins once they hit general sale to try to recoup some of the tariff fee if I have one. I'll keep you posted. No one is sure what's going on. It changes day to day.

  • Current, in-stock pins will remain the same price they've been, but like the plush, once designs sell out, they may not come back.

  • Some designs I wasn't planning on restocking anyway as I'm retiring them.

• Clothing: my t-shirts all come from a local screen printer. While they source the blanks from out the country and there may be an increase in production cost, I don't see it being as bad as like with the plush or pins.

  • Button shirts will not be restocked.

• Stickers: These are also produced in the states, but once again, print supplies may increase which will most likely push up cost of production.

I know times are super tough for everyone. I know I don't sell essentials and so your support means that much more to me. Financially, you're helping me still keep the business going during this dark time, but also mentally, helping me to keep creating. I'm not going to lie, as an Asian woman, I've been feeling very stressed as this administration makes it obvious that I'm considered an 'other'. It's hard to be creative in times of stress, but seeing people liking my posts and buying my art helps me keep going. And I sincerely thank you. I hope to keep creating things that can bring some levity to people as we all struggle through.

Even before the tariff issues, I had a goal for 2025 to start doing more illustration stuff and growing my sub-brand, Haetae Illustration (I might change the name, tbh). This focuses on fantasy and more full color illustration pieces done both digitally (Procreate) and with traditional media. I'm even looking into getting back into linocut printmaking. Follow me on Bluesky or Instagram to see the works in progress as I get them!

Once again, thank you for sticking with me!

Sincerely, 
Holly
Owner/artist of Kimchi Kawaii

Support Small Business This Holiday Season!

Small businesses rely on this time of year for a majority of their income. Many of us are single or very small staffed operations doing what we love and using the money that comes in from customers like you to create even more things that we couldn’t afford to make on our own. So if you want some unique presents this year for friends and family, please shop small!

To help your holiday budget stretch (or make it easier to treat yourself), I’m running a bunch of daily specials this weekend from 11/28-12/2!

• Thanksgiving Day, Thurs, 11/28: Free enamel pin, no code needed. Pin is random pick by me, but I’ll try to match theme if there is one.

• Black Friday, 11/29: Free US shipping with code BLACKFRIDAY24.

• Small Business Saturday, 11/30: 20% off your order with code SHOPSMALL24.

• Sunday, 12/1: Free lanyard, random selection by me, no code needed.

• Cyber Monday, 12/2: Free US shipping with code CYBERMON24.

Additionally: 11/28-12/2 - All orders over $50 will get -

• Free keychain (acrylic or pvc)

• 2 free enamel pins

• 2 free vinyl stickers

All items are random select by me, but I’ll try to match theme. While supplies last. No code needed.

Felt ornament of a kawaii holiday ham.

12/1: 2024 Edition Holiday Ornaments Go Live!

Fully hand crafted by me, the 2024 limited holiday ornaments will go live in the shop on Sunday at 11AM PST. This year, I’m bringing back the felt ornaments, but also adding cookie style ones as well. These are hand painted, signed and dated. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!

It's Wombat Week!

What’s Wombat Week? Is it like Shark Week, but less teeth?

Many years ago, my friend introduced me to a Youtube clip that was talking about wombats’ talent for making square poop. My inner kindergartener thought this was hilarious and I started making designs about it. I now have shirts, pins, stickers and plush, all dedicated to that rolly, cube pooping, ball of fur, the wombat.

Running through October 1, 2024, purchase anything wombat-related in the shop and get a free Wombat Chocolates 3” vinyl sticker and a surprise gift! No code needed. While supplies last.

Driving Adventures

My brand turned 16 this month which means, Kimchi can legally drive, lol. So I drew this little sketch of Junghee driving along. and it made me think of my own adventures relearning to drive. The second one is what I was feeling like when I started up again after 20 years of not doing it.

I live in a smallish town and so you really don't need a car. However, it was long overdue for me to start driving and actually get a car of my own and so I bought the one off my sis that she was selling. This was during the tail end of the pandemic lockdowns and since there weren't many people on the road still, I basically relearned how to drive by doing runs to my storage unit and small errands around town

I would get soooo nervous and had a death grip on the wheel. One day, I decided to go through the drive thru about 7 mins from my place. I was too chicken to merge lanes and so I missed my right turn and ended up driving 45 mins beyond town into the country before I found a place to turn around. LOL.

Now, I drive all over, even in places I swore I’d never drive when future me had a car - namely San Francisco and SoCal. It’s definitely been nice to have a car as it has allowed me to expand the amount of events I do. But every now and then, I still think about how I started out, scared to get behind the wheel!

Sweet 16!

August is here and that means Kimchi Kawaii is celebrating another year around the sun. It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this for 16 years now! Kimchi is old enough to legally drive in CA, LOL.

Anyway, to celebrate, I’m giving YOU the gifts all August long!

• All orders $25 and up will get the free 2023 15th birthday limited edition pin shown above. Once these are gone, they're gone! You will also get a free lanyard!*

• All orders $40 and up will get a free mystery pack containing 2 pins, 2 vinyl stickers and 1 washi tape!*

• No code needed! Gifts will be applied automatically to all qualifying orders.

• Freebies ends 8/31.

*lanyards, stickers and washi are chosen at random from my in-stock designs and while supplies last. 15th birthday pin while supplies last. Offer only valid on purchases through my site.

Goals Bingo!

At the start of 2023, one of my art friends posted a goals bingo board and it looked fun so I did one too. Since today is the start of 2024, here’s how I did and what’s to come.

I originally wanted to go for blackout cause I’m crazy, but I ended up doing 20 events this past year and 2023 threw all kinds of punches both to the business and in personal life. But in consideration of all that, seeing I only missed a few squares, I feel it was still quite an accomplishment.

Some of the goals were all about revamping my booth display. After 15 years of business, it really needed some updating so there were squares for that that I got to mark off (finally). Wombat was successful and made. The lions got funded and are currently at the factory. The groundwork for HoneyBun’s Kickstarter was laid out yesterday. I got more Korean culture pins done.

As you can see, the ones that mostly got missed were the ones that involved more detailed art. Which brings me to 2024.

Most of the squares on here are art focused. Lesson learned this year that 20 events while still working a full time job was just too much. I’m cutting back and want to really use the time to focus on my art. I’ve always loved doing fantasy and illustration stuff and just haven’t had time to do it since I started Kimchi. Many of these on here will fall under that and help to expand my illustration brand, Haetae Illustration. I also miss doing traditional media work too.

I know one of the reasons this worked so well for me in 2023 was cause I actually printed out the board and had it on my coffee table. It was a visual, daily reminder of what I wanted to accomplish. There were times when I knew I wanted to create something, but I wasn’t sure what and I’d look at the board to get inspired. And it was also motivating to see the blue check marks stacking up.

So I hope you’ll join me on this year long adventure! I’ll be posting on social every now and then with the Goals Bingo progress and will do a year-end summary like this one. Let’s do this!

What's in a Name?

Kimchi Kawaii turns 15 this August and so I’m going to be doing some blog posts about the adventures and things I’ve learned since starting.

Today, my Facebook memories reminded me about the name change I had to do. I was the first person in my group of friends and family to start a small business and so a lot of the stuff I learned was through trial and error. One year into everything, I faced my first major teaching moment.

My initial logo for my new brand at the time - Soy Happy.

I knew I wanted to do pun-based Japanese kawaii style pieces (kawaii is ‘cute’ in Japanese). And so I came up with the name ‘Soy Happy’ for the new brand. I liked the pun. I liked the use of soy sauce. I figured it was perfect and everything was set. Except that, I didn’t think to search the name online and see if it was already in use.

Fast forward to a year later when I got an email from another company that already had the name Soy Happy and it was registered as a trademark. The email was totally polite, but it did state that I needed to come up with a different name as they already had it registered. I definitely didn’t have the means to do an expensive legal battle - heck, I didn’t even have a lawyer at the time. When I started, I never thought to check the US Patent and Trademark (USPTO) site. Trademarks were for big corporations and stuff like Disney and Target. I was just small potatoes. Surely, I didn’t need a trademark!

At least it all happened only a year in. To be honest, my previous marketing efforts had largely failed. What I thought was super punny was leading to some confusion as to what I offered. See, ‘soy’ is also the Spanish first person conjugation of the word ‘to be’. So some people thought I was doing some Spanish/English mashup saying ‘I’m happy’. Everyone should be happy in any language, but it wasn’t really giving the public an idea of what I was offering. Thus, letting go of the name wasn’t really difficult for me.

I brainstormed a bunch of names through the highly scientific method of spewing random words that related to my art out on scratch paper and then placing them in combos that sounded appealing to me. Then, I ran the phrases through search engines and the USPTO. Some got axed that way when I discovered bigger brands with the name already (spoiler alert, they’d get all the traffic on search, not me) and/or more registered trademarks. But I did have one that passed - Kimchi Kawaii. I revamped my marketing stuff, the site I was selling on at the time and hired a lawyer to get my own shiny trademark. I didn’t want to put in more effort to lose it again!

Why the name Kimchi Kawaii? I was born in South Korea and adopted as a baby. My parents always wanted to make sure I knew about my heritage and I wanted to reflect that in my brand. I’m a Korean girl (the Kimchi) doing Japanese style cute art (the Kawaii). Plus, I really like alliteration. I felt that this name reflected a lot more of what my brand was all about and it also was general enough for me to grow with as my art and subject matter evolved.

My first logo design for the rebrand showing Roary my tiger with an ongii - traditional ceramic pot that kimchi is made in.

I came up with a new logo that pulled from Korean traditional art - the Korean tiger. Korean tigers, sadly now extinct, were favorite subjects in Korean art. Tigers were believed to be messengers from the mountain gods and also guides to humans. They were frequently portrayed with magpies, believed to be messengers from shrine deities. I originally had a magpie sitting with the tiger, but took it out in the name of a more easy to reproduce logo. The tiger was named Roary from a Facebook poll.

And so that was pretty much it! Kimchi Kawaii has been my brand name for 14 of my 15 years of business. The tiger is still my main logo, but I did update it recently to Roary’s sister, Junghee. I have no idea what the next 5 or even 15 years hold for my brand, but I do know my art style is evolving as I suspected it would when picking this name over 10 years ago. I hope you’ll stay on for the new paths that Kimchi is taking in the years to come!