Spencer x Skimlines at Kawaii Kon 2019

Spencer Hoshino

At the beginning of the month, I attended Kawaii Kon in Honolulu as a vendor with Skimlines. I had a lot of fun working with Skim at our booth, promoting our works and meeting new people. I’m also super thankful to have been able to meet and hang out with Skim, who is truly hilarious and a delight to be around.

My journey to Kawaii Kon began at 5:30 am on Thursday, the day before Kon started. I went up early to make sure all our arrangements (car, hotel, etc) were in order. Funnily enough, because of our time difference, Skim happened to be catching her flight at the same time as me! (Ooo~ spoopy!)

I tweeted from the airport because I’ve never seen it this empty. Ever. lol

After arriving and picking up the rental car, I went to have breakfast. Naturally, I went in search of all the carbs because Japanese bakeries are the best.

Throughout the day, Skim used her magical girl powers to text me from the plane. It left me truly shook, and just goes to show that New York magic is so much more powerful than Hawaii magic. lmao 😂

Day One of Kon

The following day was the first day of Kon, and thanks to me running on Hawaii time we were just a teensy smidge later than she would have liked to be. (Sorry, Skim!) We did a really quick table set up, and I’m proud to tell you all that she didn’t fire me from being her assistant. lol

I also saw one of my friends (from a distance). He and his boyfriend were cosplaying as Yuri and Victor from Yuri on Ice, and I later found out that his boyfriend arranged a flash mob proposal in the convention center! T^T (I can’t believe I was in the building and I missed it! *cries*)

Day Two of Kon

Day Two of Kon felt like there was more foot traffic than Day One. (Although, Day One was on a Friday, so people were probably working or traveling to get to Kon.)

Although there was interest in a little bit of everything, there was a ton of interest in Skim’s pottery! (Understandably so, it’s all gorgeous!) She hasn’t bragged about this herself, but she sold a cup to local celebrity, Stan Sakai, creator of Usagi Yojimbo! <insert scream face emoji> That’s such a big deal!

(If you’re interested in purchasing pottery from Skimlines, but can’t travel to a con to meet her you can always check out her Etsy shop!)

A close up of some of Skim’s pottery

Day Three of Kon

I wasn’t able to spend the whole day at the convention, unfortunately, because I had to catch my flight home. Somehow, even though I left with plenty of time padding before I needed to be at the airport, things still went wrong and I barely made it within the two-hour window.

Although my time at the convention was short, one of the first visitors to our table on the last day was an absolutely joyful young lady who was bursting with positive energy. She totally made my day. (If you’re reading this, thank you so much for buying my book!)

Mahalo & A Hui Hou ~

This is the dream… Indeed. Thank you, Skimlines, for sharing this opportunity with me. And, thank you, everyone, who came out to support and had a kind word for Skim and me.

I can’t speak for everyone, but as for myself, sometimes, being an indie creator can feel isolating. You question whether you have any talent or whether it’s worth continuing to chase the dream. Having this kind of support is encouraging and priceless.

I look forward to seeing what else the future brings, and to the next time Skim and I can hang out again.

Mahalo & A Hui Hou! Thank you, until we meet again!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *