Today's WIP

Before going to Seattle, I had ordered some candle molds and they arrived right before we were going to leave. So my mom, who is an expert candle maker, started making them while we were gone and they came out gorgeous. I mean, what could be better than a pink pirate ship!!!!

........and pink and aqua peace doves...............

......and this pirate ship - she made brown wax and poured it really hot. It's hard to see all the detail in the photo, but it looks like distressed wood!!! Very Black Pearl.

This is my Pocket Protector tote that I made today - awaiting its handles. I'm constantly digging for pens in my purse, so I decided to make them easily accessible.

I have a lot more to show but the photo download is really slow today. Happy Daylight Savings!!

A slow week..

Not slow in the sense of nothing going on - just slow in the crafty, productivity department. Plenty of ideas mind you, but unfortunately, just waiting for Saturday so that I can actually work on some of them. I did manage to get some pumpkin carving and seed roasting in yesterday. Anyways, in the meantime, here's some more pics from our trip to Port Angeles. Above is a shot of Lake Crescent. There is actually an otter in the water just under the trees but he's hard to see. This is a chipmunk I befriended at Hurricane Ridge. I did sign up for this this week, and here's a great article about about a project that Phil is a part of, it's coming out soon!

Ballet and Tea

This weekend, we did a major clean out and rearrangement of our place. It went by easier/faster with all these movies playing in the background: Swingers, National Treasure, Batman Begins, Finding Neverland, and a couple others I can't remember.

Anyways, this morning I dropped off a bunch of stuff to our local goodwill. Of course I can never resist the "dishes" section and picked up these 2 teacups (from Japan 1961) for a dollar each! The ballet flats are new from American Eagle. I was so happy to find a neutral colored flat with fairly matte sequins. Now, back to purging and organizing!

Sit on it......

Todays progress.... a chair cushion for my sewing chair. I used that new floral cotton my mom got me. I machine quilted a piece of sweatshirt fleece to the back for a little more interest.

Friday Finds

Todays finds from my local fabric store. A couple colors of Japanese slipper print, a faded ginkgo print, tiny dot flowers, and a retro pink and white repeating pattern. Also, a couple colors of some wool felting yarn. Hopefully, some of these projects willl materialize (no pun intended) this weekend!

Arigato Amelie

My Japanese version of the Amelie poster arrived today (from here)! The minute I saw her marigold silk, diamond-tufted comforter in the movie, I was obsessed with it. I was so thrilled to find that this shot was captured on a poster. Now I just need to find the perfect frame for it. I was thinking of something vintage - maybe something red and gold, but with chips and nicks in it.

And other great finds today - I finally got a new cutting mat - and it's pink!! The underside is a bright neon yellow with the same pink print. Even better, it was 40 % off at Joann Fabrics - they don't sell this item online for some reason. And more great fabric from my mom! I always seem to have good luck with the fabric she gives me, it always inspires me to create new projects! We also made plans tonight to hit the Rose Bowl next month and check out whats going on with Felt Club - they're both in the same weekend.

Fall Decor

The extent of my Fall decoration so far. I picked up the owl trio this weekend in J-Town.

Room For Squares

A square fabric dish made from this awesome paisley my mom just gave me.

An array of coasters

More fabric dishes

Fabric dish lined with a piece of vintage cloth rice bag

Fabric dish lined with a piece of vintage silk hankie

I had a very productive evening last night. I worked on a bunch of fabric dishes - I normally see these made from hard leather - but I tried a fabric version. I used heavy duty fusing to give them the structure they needed. I also made a bunch of fabric coasters from all my scraps. They have a bit of heavy sweatshirt fleece between the layers. All these squares meant I spent most of the night turning out the corners (ugh) but actually, it was'nt as bad as I thought it would be. Sometimes it's nice to get a whole lot of little things done, rather than working on one big thing for a long time. I'm hoping to get more done tonight

Pink Elephants

What could be better than two, hot pink, India-inspired candles, on sale from Target. Also, to celebrate the looming Fall weather, I got these, yipee!!

Phil and I slept in today and now we're off to the gym. Hoping to get in some sewing and cleaning up tonight.

TGIF

Going back to work after you've been off for a week sure is hard. It was a big "catch-up" day today, but I stilll had the energy to update my Etsy shop!

oh, and it RAINED today! Very hard in some areas. Phil and I were so happy! There were some amazing and eerie clouds and lightning all over - and two giant rainbows. Very weird weather but I'm loving it.

We're Back

Phil looking down onto Hurricane Ridge

Written in the frost on a park bench in Olympic National Forest

Me gathering rocks on a beach off Puget Sound

Well, we have returned from our little trip up to Port Angeles/Seattle. It was so beautiful up there. We got some nice walks in, the weather was nippy, and the air was clean. Although, Phil and I did end up feeling a little restless towards the end of our stay on Port Angeles and wished we could have spent more time in Seattle. Ah well. Believe it or not, we are actually so glad to be back home in our little loft in Downtown L.A. Just the comforts of home I guess.

This trip did get us excited about traveling more though and thinking more about other places we would really like to go. Well, lots to do. We were both itching to get back to our sewing machine (me) and drawing table (him). Hopefully an Etsy shop update will be in the works soon!

Thursday 3:54pm

A newly organized work space

A fleece button scarf I made for our trip to a chilly Port Angeles! Heathered aqua sweatshirt fleece with a large tomato-red button.

I made a mini noren for the weird space above our kitchen sink. Traditionally seen hanging in the entrance ways of Japanese restaurants and shops.

It felt so great to finally organize my work space - it's still a work in progress but at least I have a free work table now - instead of sharing it with my two machines.

I have a lovely day off today before Phil and I head up to Port Angeles tomorrow morning. We're just hanging out watching "Growing Up Giraffe", and starting to pack.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Weekend Wrap-up

An amazing Kimono Pattern my mom just gave me - from the year I was born!!

I've been collecting all the selvages from every fabric I use - I'd like to think of a cool project to use them for.

A vintage wooden pear belt buckle!

Well, this weekend sure flew by.

-Phil and I had a lovely Friday night at our favorite Curry House, then relaxing back at the loft.

-Saturday, we went to Olvera Street to do some research for a project Phil is working on.

-I found out that The Kids Are Alright sold about 10 more of my pieces - various purses and pencil pouches!

-Today I REALLY cleaned up my workspace - made a lot more space and made it a lot more efficient.

-We're gearing up for our trip to Port Angeles this week. We're actually flying up to Seattle and then taking the puddle jumper to Port Angeles. I booked our puddle jumper tix tonight and found out you can only have 24lbs of luggage per person - so that's like, only one pair of shoes? Yikes!!

-I made some more soy birdie candles.

-Today I also went way overboard in the Japanese candy department at Nijiya. They make Caramel Pocky now!!

-Anxiously awaiting Fall to REALLY arrive here in Los Angeles. It"s been a little gloomy and cloudy, but still very muggy - no need for a sweater yet. I just want one real blustery, chilly, grey day!

I'm looking forward to my short but busy week ahead! More soon.........

Lets See, Today I....................

-Painted my toenails

-Untangled a necklace that's been sitting here for months

gosh, my productivity as of late leaves a little to be desired.

I also made some more soy birdie candles. I really like the way they've been coming out - they're about the size of a real sparrow! I'm experimenting with more colors and I'm waiting for a few more molds to come in the mail - very exciting.

I'm also getting over the Benadryl Allergy I took this Saturday (those lovely Santa Anas) it felt like my head weighed 50 lbs., it was so weird. Anyways, it stayed in my system for like two days. I think that had something to do with my lack of "doing stuff".

Other news, Phil and I are finally going on a little vacation in a couple of weeks! We're going up to Seattle to stay with his Aunt and Uncle in Port Angeles. We've never been up to the Pacific Northwest and are very excited! More soon...

AHHHH...........

Chelsea Piers at Sunset

Wow. It's good to be home. I got back Wed. nite but needed a couple of days to recoup.

New York was hectic work-wise, but I got to hang out with a good friend who I only see about twice a year. The fashion industry is both exhausting and exciting at the same time. So many ideas and so much inspiriation, but sometimes, I question whether I have the strength to keep up.

Anyways, I hate being away from home. I realize that I have a very specific comfort zone and I don't really like to be taken out of it. I was never one who wanted to backpack thru Europe or go camping in the woods alone.

Well, I am having a very lovely Sunday watching The Royal Tenenbaums and making soy candles. Getting myself ready for the work week ahead...............

Start Spreadin' the News...

What a busy/tiring couple of weeks. Lets see if I can sum up :

- Extremely busy with my day job (designing for a clothing company) trying to get samples ready for the New York D & A Show. We leave this Friday for 5 days.

-Trying to figure out which path to take with my personal work - my mind has been swirling with many scattered, disorganized ideas. Hopefully they will come into focus soon.

-Trying to deal with the fact that on the weekdays, I'm just too drained from work to do much of my own thing. It's a frustrating thing to try to come to terms with.

-Trying to pack and prepare for NY - I hate packing and preparing. There just are'nt enough
hours in the day.

-Finally really using my IPOD. I know it sounds dumb, but I've been downloading TV shows, photos, videos - it's awesome. I downloaded Season 1 of Weeds to watch on the plane.

-Looking at some more lofts and other options to buy in our area. Very exciting and daunting at the same time.

-Cleaning up and out - getting rid of a lot of junk.

-Trying to eat a lot healthier than we have in the past - no more burritos - lots of grilled chicken, salmon, and salads. But I might have to try those Reeses Peanut Butter Cups with the Marshmallow in it!!

-Hanging out with our 10 yr old family friend Eisaku. My bro brought him to Phil's studio so he could meet all the artists who draw his favorite cartoon!! Eisaku is a boy genius - he painted that still life of the pears - each pear is supposed to be from a different season, brilliant!!

-Trying to get some sleep - it's hard being tired when your mind is still racing with the things you want and need to do.

I'll be on a bit of a blogging break till I get back - hopefully life will resume to a somewhat normal pace after this NY show is over. Take care veryone!

Updates All Around

Whenever I don't have any pics to post, I like to show a fabric that I am dying for. And this one is my latest obsession. It's a bit pricey from here, a Japanese import of course. If I can think of a perfect project for it, then I would get it, otherwise, no dice.

Let's see, what else is going on:

- I'm continuing my Christmas gift giving list. Now that my Mom and I have found a good dog biscuit recipe, there are some dogs on the list too! I'll post the recipe in the next week or so.

-I finally purchased some paperclay because of this great post - but have yet to touch it for fear of failure and frustration. Actually, I just have'nt had time to think of a cool project for it, and I need to study her awesome tutorial again.

-Phil has been going crazy on his Cintiq - having a ball and, periodically, laughing like a madman.

-Trying to finish some more Birdie Totes and give my Etsy shop a good updating. I'm not linking to it because, as Ali G would say, right now, "It's a bit crap."

-Gearing up for Fall. I'm finally going to buy a pair of rubber rainboots this year! I cannot wait for gloomy, grey, and COLD. I can't take this heat any longer, 106 in the valley today!

-Phil and I are looking into maybe buying a loft soon!

Very exciting changes ahead! I realized today, my Mom and I have such great ideas and we're really gonna try to get something going soon. I know that once we start, it'll really push us to keep going.

Happy short week everyone!

More Than Meets the Eye!!

My first shrinky dinks pins. Thanks to Hillary for a great tutorial!

4th and Spring - filming Transformers the Movie. My guess is, a mighty Autobot and Decepticon battle took place here - probably tachyon.

Fake car wreck and all the concrete and pavement was fake styrofoam

Styrofoam gothic statue.

So, here's a list of the "going's on" this holiday weekend:

-Tried my hand at some shrinky dink pins - quails abounded

-Really bummed about Steve Irwin

-Got to see the Transformers movie set a block away from our building and had an

Optimus Prime sighting, but did'nt have my camera for that.

-Nicely folded all my fabric into neat stacks.

-Did'nt want to disturb the neatly folded stacks, therefor I have no sewing projects to show

for myself.

-Started my Christmas gift giving list!!! It's never too early.

-Lots of "thinking about" and "writing down" ideas, but not really doing much. But Phil was

very inspired this weekend and got lots of amazing personal work done with his new Cintiq!

-Watched the end of one of our favorite Anime series "Full Metal Alchemist". So beautiful and

sad.

-Went to Jungle Anime 4 days in a row.

Hope eveyone had a lovely weekend!

Van-tastic

So I bought these Vans a while ago, and Phil took them to work to have all the guys in the studio draw on them. Here's the progress so far. I went to visit him at work the other day and I had completely forgotten that they were even there - they are so cool. Phil has yet to do his piece on them. I don't know if I'll want to wear them when they're done, for fear of messing them up - maybe I'll just have to keep them as an art piece.

Equivalent Exchange

Another busy week with lots of cleaning - but it feels great! We also made these healthy dog biscuits for Zero on Wednesday. She loved them.

This week was filled with lots of Full Metal Alchemist watching - and it's Phil's birthday today!! We both got home early today and had dinner at Curry House, and went to Jungle Anime to get what else - more Full Metal DVD's That was Phil's present.

So glad it's a long weekend. I want to try to get some sewing in and possibly an embroidery project I've been thinking about. Happy Back to School shopping everyone!