SCK Staff Interview: Marceline (Founder/Editor)

For SCK’s 10 year anniversary, I thought it would be fun to share interviews with all the SCK staff so you can find out a little more about us – and what we really look like. Even though we’ve been working together for years, we all live in different places around the world so have never met in person (except me and Nicolette, since we’re sisters). I’m interested to find out more too! They’ll be posted on Sundays in the order we joined SCK, so to start things off I am answering the questions myself.

Introduce Yourself!

Hello! I’m Marceline. I work from home full-time running SCK, designing cute character products as Asking For Trouble and doing some freelance web design and marketing work. In my spare time I like drawing on my iPad, walking along the seafront, playing Nintendo, sewing, sending surprises in the mail and reading a lot of books.

At SCK, I’m the editor so as well as writing posts, I plan out the calendar every month, edit and schedule all the posts, update the social media, do all the design and technical stuff and work with shops, makers and brands for advertising, reviews and giveaways. It’s a lot of work!

Where do you live and what’s it’s like there?

I live in Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland. I grew up at the seaside in the north of Scotland and I’m much happier by the water. Helensburgh is very quiet with great views but it’s cold and wet for most of the year. There’s not much kawaii here but Glasgow is only an hour away and has lots of big shops.

Tell us something about you that we wouldn’t guess from your SCK posts

Before SCK, I used to run a music website with all my friends and would travel around the UK on no money photographing and interviewing bands. I was even in a band myself with some small success.

How did you become interested in kawaii culture?

It was a twin attack by Hello Kitty and Pikachu! It must have been around the late 1990s when Sanrio products became a little more widely available in the UK while we were also starting to play cute Nintendo games. That led naturally to an interest in Japan, which grew through reading blogs, making bento lunches for work, shopping on Etsy and then visiting Japan for the first time in 2006.

How has kawaii changed since SCK started in 2008?

Kawaii was definitely a niche interest back in 2008 and we mostly covered Etsy makers and illustrators, while trying to scrape up news from Japanese brands. The last 2 or 3 years have been so different – kawaii characters are everywhere, from supermarkets to TV adverts, and it’s never been easier to buy Japanese products/characters online or visit Japan.

What cute products or characters can you never resist adding to your collection?

My main kawaii collection is tiny plushies. I have so many now! I try only to buy the small ones as they’re more affordable and take up less space. I also have a type drawer of tiny things (see above), an ever-growing enamel pin collection, and quite a lot of cute bunnies.

What have been your highlights of writing for SCK

The popularity of Pusheen – I was a fan of Claire & Andrew’s comics and characters from the Everyday Cute days and never imagined I would one day have Pusheen slippers and bedding, receive Christmas gifts from her – and be hosting a giveaway with tens of thousands of entries. It’s been incredible to watch.

Being drawn by Maqaroon – still the best idea I’ve ever seen for getting bloggers to write about your new shop.

Being Guest Curators on Etsy’s blog – I think this was the first thing that made me and SCK co-founder Claire feel like SCK was more than just a side project we wrote for friends to read. Sadly, it’s long gone, but you can read it here archived on SCK.

+ something you’ll find out about tomorrow…

What are your current favourite Instagram accounts?

• noodoll – the plushies’ adventures make me laugh so much.
• rainbowholic – The perfect mix of Japan, kawaii, creativity and positivity.
• mis0happy – a kawaii artist who doesn’t take herself too seriously. I love watching her stories and drawing timelapses.
• tofucute – a super cute look behind the scenes at running a kawaii shop

Where else can we find you online?

I have my own blog at Asking For Trouble and I mostly use Instagram and Twitter.

Anything else you’d like to know? Ask in the comments!