:(

am i just unpopular in blogland? why the lack of commenting? (comments are really the only way i can tell someone is reading my blog and actually figure out who is reading it). me sad. :(

meanwhile, i've made some other things and my room is currently in re-decorating mode! i've put up a lot of pretty pics too (but i cant show you that part since i've used copyrighted images -- i know, i know, shame on me, but c'mon, i have no money and cannot afford to pay $20+ for an image that is essentially ink on paper). at least not now. i'll afford it when i'm better employed. as in, i'm not forking money over to university regents who get to make 6 figures and live happily ever after for doing nothing out of the ordinary. (i'm half sarcastic).

photos soon!

i like creativity, but...

It can be so overwhelming.

I love that I am interested and passionate about something and that all that I can think about is this something (being creative, in this case), but I really need to slow it down a bit and prioritize. As in, I really should get around to cleaning up my room a bit, start focusing on my classes and begin reading the assigned texts, etc etc.

Meanwhile, here are some snaps of my latest work.

The image above is my latest painting. It isn't all that great. I haven't done my best work in a long while, well, almost three years I'd say. When I stopped taking art lessons because of college.



These are the two "designs" I've been working on as mentioned last night. The mushroom flowers aren't too inspiring just yet. It's been so cold and rainy out that I haven't ventured into the garden to look at the mushroom flower that I had painted on our garden mural for a better likeness. But I do like the little houses.




I created these items using the molly bird fabric by kristen doran of cheeky beaks. They look lovely, dont they? But in trying to figure out what to do with them I realized it is kind of difficult to find other fabrics to mix with. But, I managed, as you can see. Made a notebook cover, a small tote (I think I'll make more of these in the future to sell), and a pouch using my "signature" band closure. I'm sure I'm not the first to make pouches that close like this but it's definitely something I've been doing and did not intentionally copy anyone. The orange fabric on the tote can from a tea towel by tikoli. Brown fabric from Jo-Ann's.



Using up my scraps of Lara Cameron's fabrics. Must replenish supply. Haha. It's now my knitting bag. The contents?



Like any crafter, I have a stash of just about everything. And I am a yarn lover. But with my expensive tastes, it's hard to know what to do with that cashmere yarn or virgin wool or merino wool. Mmmm... Was originally going to knit up a fun monkey backpack from the Stitch n Bitch books, but decided to use it on something more timeless -- like a blanket! I am impatient and like to feel like I'm making progress and I get bored of yarn really easily, so I decided to make it more "patchwork-y" and knit in blocks and use different colors and fibers and it's a great way to learn new stitch designs! (This project will take me 10 years! haha)

I think I'm going to do a quick painting using the house design as shown above. Will post pictures of that later.

designing

I've recently (as in, last night and just right now) made a couple of rough sketches of possible designs that can be turned into stationery (the letterset kind), possibly notecards too (there's just so many notecards out there already though!), and one day, with some money in the bank, textiles. I dream of the day I can turn my designs into textiles, to be made into all sorts of goodies!

Meanwhile, I have to remain realistic. I am 20 (turning 21 in a matter of weeks) and finishing up my last two semesters of college (graduating early, remember?). And hopefully make use of my B.A. in social welfare doing something that hopefully makes a difference on somebody's life. (I know, high expectations, right?). I didn't take a four year journey learning about family, childcare, social services, psychology, race and education, etc etc for nothing after all. But my heart lies in the arts and crafts and I know I'll find a way to make them both work.

Now... back to design talk. My first design is still quite hideous (pictures soon, it's night right now so photos would look horrible), but it's based on the "mushroom flower" I painted as part of our forrest/wildlife themed mural in the garden of my co-op house. I hated it when the other girls called it a mushroom flower. It wasn't my intention. I was merely following the outline of some other flower I had seen and wanted to paint it. But now, I realized that this "mistake/misunderstanding" might be of use. And my second design, that I just did a few moments ago is of Asian-inspired houses situated atop little rocks. This is heavily influenced by the "blue and white" porcelain style drawings my art teacher M. Sarah Klise (link at left side bar) enjoyed very much and would find opportunities to incorporate into our lesson drawings, including her fondness for stripes!

I'll have to work on a few more sketches to get it right and then figure out how to turn them into stationery letter sets. The easy way would be to print them off my printer (what 20 year old has a printing press in her dorm room? or the funds to mass produce anything?), but I do not like the quality of that. Any suggestions for an inexpensive way to produce small quantities of printed material? I'll have to find a place that wouldn't charge much to print for me or something. Or else I'll have to find some creative way to make use of a copy place like Kinko's. The quality is still not what I would like it to be (not professional enough for my taste) but at least the ink won't smear or smudge like printer ink would if you spilled water (that's my biggest pet peeve about printing straight from my computer printer - ick!).

Photos coming soon, I promise!

hola!

just popping in a quick hello, bonjour, hola, ni hao! hope everyone is doing well.

my classes began this wednesday (yesterday) and all is going just well. one of my sociology classes has a paper worth 60% of my grade! i nearly died of a heart attack as i flipped through the syllabus. it's cruel and unsual punishment and very unconstitutional. but.. what can i say? the guy's old (62!) and quite frankly, if i do well on this paper then i am pretty much set. with that said, i can't slack off on this paper, now can i?

anyhow, i have my asian american studies class at 5pm and as the first day i hope it does not run all the way to 8pm! ridiculous if you ask me. i'm likely to fall asleep.

meanwhile, i've made a couple of new things with kristen doran's (link on left side bar: cheeky beaks) mollybird fabric and i'm waiting on the lady bug and little owls fabric pieces i've recently purchased. and she just came out with a slightly new design called 'dandelion' and it's sold by the meter, not by the piece! it's quite close to the lady bug design so i think i'll wait another time to purchase more fabrics from her.

i think this weekend i'll stop by the local designer fabric store to purchase some new fabrics. i love mixing light weight cotton with the medium weight cottons/linens that i purchase online from my fave aussie textile designers! i need to start working soon so i can afford my hobbies and my hopefully soon to open mini "business". it's not really a business. more like... another hobby of mine. :)

pictures to come soon of my latest projects!

ps. has anyone found any US based textile designers who do hand screen printed work? the only US based designer that i know of thus far is yuko of patapri (link on left sidebar).

until next time...

lesley has received my swap items and she has taken a beautiful picture of them.

i also have another PIF to do but with classes beginning this week, it'll have to be pushed until this weekend or later next week. but i hope to have that done soon so i can concentrate on building my stock and learning new crafts.

pictures are here!

So it just occurred to me last night as I was on the phone with my friend (the one who came back from a trip to Asia), that I do not have class on Tuesdays. With the MLK jr holiday on Monday and no class on Tuesday, I don't have to begin classes until Wednesday! That fact brightened me up a bit. Don't know about you, but no student (in their right minds if you ask me) looks forward to school (at least not the stringent academic part). Guess I'm not much of a student -- but what artist is?

Anyway... I've made a couple of things during my trip to Davis, CA (near the state capitol) but my battery needs to be charged. We'll save that for another entry.

Meanwhile, here are the long-awaited pictures of things I've made since the last entry of my projects.

I made a bunch of notebooks. Some as gifts and others I will be putting up in my shop once I get my act together and open one on etsy!





I made a few barrettes to test out my new hot glue gun and the flower petals I purchased. Might make a few to put in my future shop as well. Very cute for kids and adults!


Can't seem to remember where I got the "pattern" but made a child's dress in under an hour. Love it! Too bad it's not for me to wear.


Look, it's my Valentine bear to be buddies with Mr. Bear-bear (as seen in a previous entry). I think I'll name the Valentine bear Mr. Love. So... I present to you, Mr. Love and Mr. Bear-bear - lifelong friends. Perhaps I'll use up my scraps to make a few bears for the future shop too. Ideas, ideas.


For a PIF swap with Lesley, I received this neato notebook cover (holding a small rhodia notebook) made from Kristen Doran fabric. I'll post up pics of what I made for her once she receives the item so it won't spoil the surprise in case she reads this blog. :)


And here's a weird monster felt plush based on the monster stationery products by paperchase.



alrighty... until next time!

Sorry, no photos...

My best buddy will soon be back from his trip to Hong Kong and China (and Thailand apparently). I cannot wait to get his call and equally I cannot wait until we see each other, which should be soon as the spring semester is coming up next week. Yikes! I am not ready to leave the comforts of home for college again...

Meanwhile, with Lara having few shop updates lately, I've found a new love in Kristen Doran's fabrics. They're so lovely! The trouble with this is that all of these designers (that I have discovered on this blogosphere thus far) are located outside the United States, making shipping a pain in the butt and currency conversion sucks with the USD decreasing in value (I never thought I'd see the day when the USD is slipping away - haha). I have yet to find similar textile designers in the US - why is that? Am I not searching hard enough? Please let me know if there are similar designers (i.e. independent textile designers who sell fabric in reasonable prices) in the States!

I just adore handscreenprinted fabric. There's so much more substance than your typical fabric store fabric.

Ah well, call me a fabric snob. (I'm also a yarn snob too!). HAHAHA! :)

And I promise to upload new photos soon so you won't be bored reading this!

chinese rambling of no importance

i just though it would be fun to see if i could type in chinese characters on this blog. and it looks like i can! but in order to read it you'll have to have enabled chinese script on your own computer... i really need to refresh my memory as my chinese is fading away at a rapid speed. it was just this past summer that i had taken my second year of mandarin... well, what do you expect when you speak a completely different chinese dialect at home and what do you expect of your knowledge of chinese grammar when colloquial speech throws proper grammar out the window? oh well...

so here's a bunch of nonsensical chinese for you (for those who can see it):
三個人念書。這三個人也畫畫。這三個人也跑步。三個人有三個朋友。

translation: three people study (books). these three people also draw. these three people also run. three people have three friends.

haha. call it random early, EARLY in the morning craziness. it's 5 am pacific western time and i have yet to sleep. yikes!

anyway, this crazy random mix of words and sentences actually make me want to make some baby-related items. perhaps a baby book of sorts... or a collage... i don't know. there just isn't enough time in a day to do all the art and crafts i want to do. and my painting has been pushed aside for a few years now (ever since college took over my life), but i've lost the inspiration and will to paint. i need to find something to make me want to paint again.

crafting will have to do for now.

hmm....

So I have been a very lazy girl on the update front. I've been neglecting this blog and the virtual world in general. I couldn't get my laptop to receive wireless internet and as my ethernet cord can only go so far, I've been spending less time on this darn thing. Meaning, less time spent with my virtual friends. :(

Meanwhile, I've turned my parents' living room into a makeshift "studio". By studio I mean scraps of fabric are littered all over the couch, rolls and pieces of pretty paper on the couch seats and the coffee table. Bits of thread ends from the sewing machine all over the floor. Glue, scissors, bobbins, etc. everywhere! And of course the trash that results from the many projects I engage in.

This is why my parents must convert the spare bedroom/toolroom in the basement into a studio of sorts for me. (Though lighting is poor and sparse). My father did offer to put a table in the living room for me (don't know where he'll find the space) but it certainly beats the short coffee table! haha.

Anyhow, I'll post up pictures of my latest items soon as well as the two PIF's I received this week! I LOVE getting real mail. Who doesn't? (And please don't tell me if you don't.)

Have a great weekend.

new year

Hello 2008!


I usually look forward to a new year, new changes, new everything. But it seems with the passing of my grandfather late November, everything has been plain, simple and somber at home. Which is understandable, in keeping with tradition and as part of the mourning process. No celebrations. No visits to relatives or friends. The adults (meaning, the parental unit) follow it more strictly than the children (meaning, me, the unmarried "adult").

And I usually make all of these resolutions and set goals and plans and do all sorts of things like that. But, I think, for this year, I'm just going to focus on doing well in my classes and moving forward with my art and craft and see where it takes me. Manageable. Practical. Simple.

Meanwhile, I've been neglecting you my dear friends. And I have loads of photos to share! (of things I made from my last post until now).

My proudest creation is this bear. I found a pattern online after deciding not to purchase a bear and just make my own! Isn't he the cutest? I've just been calling him Bear-bear. :)



I think Bear-bear looks hot in every direction. Watch him strike a pose! Haha. He is made with all natural Lara Cameron fabric.

I made a few other things with her fabric as well. After seeing Lara's post of the cute little baby shoes, I thought I'd have to give it a try. Especially since there are a couple of friends with babies. For the blue felt shoes I used the pattern by Heather Bailey. For the other shoe (yes, I only made one shoe), since I can't sell things produced from a copyrighted pattern, I decided to create my own after analyzing several different patterns.I'm still working out the kinks, figuring out how thick it needs to be and what materials to mix together (in this case, felt and linen does not go too well together - see the bumps along the edge?). heehee. Plus, I don't have a baby to test out my shoes for fit! haha. oh well...




For my friends, this year I've decided to make a few things that I hadn't do yet. Below is a wallet, a potholder for the mom of a friend I stayed with for a few days, and a pouch that holds a notebook I made (shown in an earlier post). Then, of course, a pillow! (I used Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry fabric - still have a stash I wanna use up).









Here's my favorite item other than Bear-bear! I finally attempted at a quilt using mainly Lara Cameron fabric, as well as some Etsuko Furuya and Joel Dewberry. Really pretty though. But if you saw it up close and personal... you'd see the flaws. For the back I used a clearance flat sheet bought from Urban Outfitters (I know... I know...). And for the battting I purchased some bamboo batting - it is so SOFT and totally worth the extra cost. I consider this a present to myself. :)


I have other things to show but I'll save that for next time.

And I almost forgot. Here's a glimpse at my new haircut. It's cute but so hard to maintain its shape. I wake up with hair ends curling every which way. Bobs just don't work for straight hair. sigh.


Happy new year and keep it simple!