… SpeRaToBo

SpeRaToBo is a Special Lucky Toy Box filled with art, music, videos, and more from Indigo East! It’s meant to be a bit of a smörgåsbord of different ideas, projects, and concepts. You can find SpeRaToBo on Youtube and support SpeRaToBo on Patreon at Indigo East on Patreon

SpeRaToBo comes from the words Special Lucky Toy Box,（スペシャル・ラッキー・トーイ・ボックス// Supesharu Rakkī Tōi Bokkusu)

… Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!!

Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! is a series run by Kiki and Koko, kitty-like twins living here on Earth like the rest of us with the purpose of teaching you Japanese language and culture, hosted here on SpeRaToBo.

But, let’s not forget an integral part to the site, our computer friend, Quizbo™, here to test your skills and give consistent sounds of Japanese language to mimic whilst Kiki and Koko exemplify the many variations you’ll hear in everyday Japanese speech.
They’ll teach you how to read and write! They’ll teach you tips and phrases, grammar and culture! And, most importantly, we’ll all relax with handcrafted music. You can watch Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! or read their articles here on the blog.

… Indigo East 

My name is Indigo East. I am an experienced digital and traditional visual artist, voice talent, author, musician, linguist, entrepreneur, et cetera. My passion for media and productivity has fuelled the development of each of my skills. These skills meld and work together for any creative and professional task. I have a life-long love of learning and I am always looking to make each day as productive as possible.

I have studied education and psychology after having studied art and design. I write books for children and I am working on a few. One that has been recently published on Blurb is my first bilingual, Japanese and English children’s book: “Sushi Chef Neko: The Origin of a Tiny Hero.” I enjoy studying both education and psychology because they have aided me in character creation, use of art and how it all works. I want to use illustration and stories to educate and entertain. And, to write proper characters, I wanted to truly understand everything that makes characters either loveable or even detestable because this is what entertains us, truly—not simply the story, but the characters.

I currently design for a few select art and apparel sites such as Redbubble, Design by Humans, and Society6. While I usually design commercial art, I take commissions for personal artwork as well. In running an Etsy shop, I create many products by hand by request, creating the patterns and managing everything from finances to logistics. I also bring my shop to conventions, adding special items that can only be purchased there. One of these includes embroidery that I have designed and embroidered.

But, visual arts are only the tip of the ice berg. My love for audio production, linguistics, theatre, and books has brought me to fulfill each of my passions in one way or another. Each time that I work on a new project– or even the same sort of project– the spark of excitement never diminishes. And, that is the passion that I have in everything that I do.”

… wakuwakuWorkshoppe

Hello, friends. I’m Indigo East: a seamstress, visual artist, author/illustrator, musician, linguist, etc. But, most importantly, I’m the owner of wakuwakuWorkshoppe. My ‘shoppe has catered to plush lovers around the globe for years, now. Though, at anime conventions, you’ll also see the ‘shoppe brimming with my many art prints, stickers, and charms, along with my Japanese and English children’s books. While outside of the ‘shoppe, I draw; I design; I write; I read; I act as voice talent; I play music—as a matter of fact, I compose and perform many songs using many of the instruments I play such as saxophone, stylophone, melodica, erhu, ukulele, guitar, dizi, etc. Though, on Etsy, you’ll be most likely to see me bringing 2D creations into the third dimension—by which I mean, turning characters into plushies.

Till this day, I’m in love with animation and cartoons. When I was very young, you’d know I loved a cartoon because I had crafted a plushie replica out of fabric from around the house. Granted, at the time, my supplies were old leggings and glue, but the products turned out quite impressively, I must admit. My peers and art teachers were amazed at my pattern-less plush creations. Then, for a while, my focus turned back to the second dimension and to sound where I began to cartoon and study music and theatre.

During my early plushing days, I would draw and write stories, and eventually this passion took the forefront. It was during this time that my drawing skills would help my later plush creations. As a teen, I became quite enamoured with Japanese street fashions, creating my own clothes and leading me to get to know local fabric stores wherever on the map that I lived. Learning more about textiles, I invested in learning to sew properly with a proper sewing machine. I remember my first two projects so well. It was the experience of creating seemingly new fabric combinations. There were trousers that combined gold lame and denim and a one piece of corduroy and metallic fabric. It was the way the two types of fabrics meshed, the effect of the stitch type, and the amazing feeling of wearing them to class one day. Sewing my own clothes and cartooning truly prepared me for the various plush ideas that are entrusted with me at the ‘shoppe. However, my “eureka!” moments came during my college days when I began to dabble in realism in my visual arts. It was in understanding form and design that allowed me to get a better grasp of seeing the second dimension in a three dimensional way.

I always enjoy receiving a brand new character design whether it is of a video game character, a cartoon character, or someone’s “OC”—examining it and visualizing the shapes and pieces, the textiles, and the seams that will have to come together in order to ‘plushify’ them.

I look forward to hearing from you and fulfilling your wishes at wakuwakuWorkshoppe!