break from studying

i finished the dreadful paper and i hope i did well on it. i've completed one exam, 2 more to go. ugh... studying is such a drag.

on the fun side, lots of photos!

first are my purchases from a short time ago that i never had a chance to show:


i bought this adorable and useful messenger-size bag from a housemate who was helping raise funds for some group against sex trafficking. i was more than delighted to help out and shop at the same time! this bag is made of recycled rice bags.


these lovely peony letterpressed cards are from satsuma press. they are delightful. i love these large color prints and i was happy there was something i could afford!


i remember reading someone's blog about a letterset by poppies for grace so i found some at beyond pink and blue online and am delighted by them. i'm a teensy bit disappointed by how they were printed - they looked like ordinary stationery, but they did use good quality paper (nothing flimsy). i just don't know what to do with them!


badges, buttons! i don't know what to call them, but they sure are pretty. i immediately recongized the japanese fabric when i saw these. it's amazing how much more aware i am of the materials that artists and crafters use, especially if they're well known stuff. so that was nice. a bit pricey at $8 each (okay, i'm a student so everything is pricey), but worth it i guess. my cousins didn't seem to think so. (they're even stingier about money than i am!) feisty elle is the designer brand and you can head on over to feistyelle.com for more goods.

now i'm going to show you things i've been working on, when i'm not studying like i ought to...


i started this pillow - what will be a pillow anyway - a long while ago but never had the time to finish it. i was trying to find some way to make the bright neon-ish yellow fabric seem less glaring by mixing other prints with it. i don't know if it'll look so nice once it's completed... but we'll see i guess...




then i received my package of fabric goodies from lara not too long ago and had to have at it with the fabric! i just couldn't let them sit there without making something with them. (i really wish i had my sewing machine with me for instances like this). i quickly hand stitched a little wallet/pouch, which i'm now using to store my feisty elle badges. the front with the flap looks a little funny since the ginkgo print is upside down... haha... but it still looks rather nice. and the japanese print on the inside is a nice crisp surprise.




for a secret santa exchange at my house i decided to make some stuffies since she seemed to like plush toys. i wasn't able to finish the giraffe (not photographed) but i'd like to present to you: ellie the elephant (based closely on lotta jansdotter's elephant soft toy for babies - i couldn't find a better example of a cute elephant so i borrowed lotta's design), hoot the owlie-owl (hmm... i'll have to revise this design if i want to make more in the future), and woar the whale (so cute!). i'm thinking i should make more of these stuffies but in a bigger size. what do you think? currently these are about 4 inches in length. and i love the brown butcher paper that i used as gift-wrapping. reminds me of lynn's giftwrapping as seen on her satsumalynn blog.

alrighty! back to studying for this girl! :)

end of semester

Final exams and papers have taken over my academic life!

I'll be on hiatus for quite some time.

I received a generous extension on a paper I am having difficulty completing, but I hope to be done with by tomorrow afternoon and send it off to my GSI (graduate student instructor, aka teacher's assistant). Then I have final exams Thursday, Saturday (in the evening hours too!) and Tuesday. Then I'm off to the San Fernando Valley area (near Los Angeles) for a few days of shopping and eating and seeing the socal sights! :)

I'll be back home on the 23rd of December and hopefully I can go straight to work on making a few personal projects (which I will post up pictures here) as well as create a small inventory of items to test out and see how well they sell.

Happy Holidays everyone!