Amanda's blog

Bryan's Baek-il (100 days birthday)

2010-09-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy, it's hard to make posts nowadays! These are pictures from Bryan's 100 day birthday, Setember 16th. It is a Korean tradition. They celebrate baby's 100th day because in the old days infant death was so common. Making it to 100 days meant that the baby will probably live a healthy life.

Cupcake cake.

My mother-in-law and her sister made way too much food! Fish, bulgogi, japchae noodles, gyoza, and of course kimchi.

"gimme that camera!"

"hey babe, what's shakin?"

must eat rattle!

Grandma Linda!

"Yay! Party!"

Grandpa Mike giving bunny ears

"OMGCupcakes!"

Vegetable Eggroll Recipe

2010-09-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of requests for my veggie eggroll recipe, so here it is!

Ingredients (makes about 20 eggrolls):

1 package Eggroll wrappers (about 20 wraps)
2 cups Canned bamboo shoots, julienned (about two of the short cans)
2 cups Mung bean sprouts
1 bunch Green onion
2 TBS Garlic, minched
2 Eggs
2 1/2 tsp Soy sauce
2 TBS Vegetable oil
1 TBS Flour
A little water
Oil for deep frying

1. Prepare vegetables
Drain and julienne the bamboo shoots if they don't come julienned in the can. Rinse the bamboo shoots in a strainer.
Chop the green part of the green onion into 1/2 in. to 1 in. pieces, and chop the thicker white parts finely.

2. Saute
Heat 2 TBS of oil in a skillet or wok on low heat. Add 2 TBS of garlic and saute for 30 seconds.

Add vegetables and cook, stirring, until tender, 2-5 minutes.

Add eggs and cook, stirring until egg is cooked and grainy.
Add soy sauce and stir until evenly incorporated. Turn off heat and let cool to room temperature.
3. Set up
While the filling mixture cools, set up your eggroll wrapping station and frying station. I wrap the eggrolls on a cutting board and then move the wrapped rolls to a piece of tin foil or wax paper. Get your oil ready and lay out a dish with paper towels to absorb the oil (I use a cookie sheet). In a small bowl mix your flour with 2 TBS of water to make a paste.

4. Wrap
There are two ways to wrap it, this is the most common way.
Lay out one sheet of eggroll wrap and mound a small amount of cooled filling a little lower than the center. Apply the flour-paste to the top corner-edges.
Fold up the bottom.
Fold in the sides. Notice the top tapers a little.
Start rolling.
The flour-paste glues it shut.
All wrapped up!
The second method of rolling eggrolls is to cut the eggroll wrappers in half and use less filling (like mini eggrolls!). This makes a crunchier treat and I like it better. I didn't do this method so I don't have pictures.. You wrap a triangle piece of eggroll wrapper rather than a square: place a small amount of filling (about a tablespoon?) near the bottom edge of the triangle (the longest edge), fold in the outside corners and roll up. The wrapping is thinner so it has more crunch. If you use the full square of the wrapper, like the method described above, the result is a slightly chewier eggroll, but still crunchy and delicious.

5. Fry
Heat about 2 inches of oil to 360-370 degrees. The outside with start to blister and turn white right away. Try to turn the eggrolls as soon as you put it in the oil so that the sudden heat doesn't cause an air bubble to form inside. If an air bubble forms it gets harder to turn and fry the other side later on.
Golden crispy. It tastes better it it is dark golden, but not quiet burnt.
Cool on paper towels to absorb oil.
If making ahead of time, keep them uncovered until cooled to room temperature before wrapping up or covering. If covered when hot they will become soggy. When ready, put them in a cookie sheet and heat in the oven until hot. Check them often and flip over once.
Serve with soy sauce or sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Bryan's Futon

2010-08-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

Today Bryan received a futon from his great-uncle in Korea. It's very cute, but unfortunately Bryan sleeps in a crib, not on the floor like like how Korean/Japanese futon are meant to be used. The blanket and pad are very thick, thicker than Western-style blankets.

When I was shopping for baby supplies with my mother-in-law I couldn't understand why she kept complaining that Babies-R-Us didn't sell baby blankets, even though I pointed out to her that we had several blankets in the shopping cart. "Those aren't baby blankets!" she said. The tags clearly say "Baby Blanket" on them... Now I understand that she meant "futon" not "blanket".

There is a neck-roll pillow (much too big for him) and a very flat pillow filled with tiny yellow rice.

It's all wrinkly. Blurry pic, but gives you an idea of the size. Maybe when he's ready for his crib to be converted into a toddler bed he can use this.

Kicking off the covers! Matrix is checking it out too. Maybe Matrix is thinking he wants it for his new cat bed! He also got two outfits from Korea. They are very cutesy, and he won't fit into them until he is one years old.

Saturday we all went to a friend's place for a party. I made eggrolls and we had some good food. Bryan was well behaved and ended up falling asleep. He slept almost 11 hours that night! I even got to go swimming in their swimming pool. I haven't been swimming in forever.

A funny picture I took of Bryan eyeballing my ice cream! It's a Cookie-Dipper Drumstick, I'm obsessed with them! He was watching it like this the whole time I ate it.
Bryan's coordination is getting better. We got him a play mat and he's learning to bat at the danglies. I think he is right handed. He likes the monkey in the middle, which is actually something we bought seperately to hang on the car seat, but it swings too low and bops him in the face so we attached it here. Bryan can recognize smiling faces on stuffed animals now, so when I tilt it face-to-face with him he smiles back at the monkey.

Bryan is growing so fast!

2010-08-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Bryan is two months old now, and full of smiles! He's learning new sounds and likes to coo all the time. He giggles, but it is mostly breathy noises. Lately he's occasionally added vocal sounds to his giggles, and even a squeal or two!

Matrix has been really good with Bryan.

Smiles!

Earlier this week Bryan met his great grandmother. She was afraid to hold him at first, but she loved meeting him.

My boys, sleeping on the couch!

In an earlier post I put up a video of him snoring, but this video he is snoring louder!

Yesterday Bryan and I went to my sister's house.
Bryan and his cousins, Atlantis and Dakota. They love hanging out together.

Around dinner time Bryan was being fussy. Laying in this position in Auntie's arms put him to sleep!
My sister, Bryan and my nephew Noah.
We later went for a 2 mile walk with the stroller. Bryan was still asleep from being held, but it was nice to enjoy the cool night air.

My hubby isn't too keen on taking pictures, so I get so few pictures of me with Bryan! I made him take this picture today :-)

Pierce County Fair 2010

2010-08-14T15:32:00.001-07:00

This weekend in my home town is the Pierce County Fair. It is a fair basically celebrating farm life and simple things. There are carnival rides for the kids, merchandise and advertising booths, live music and animal shows.

Not much as far as merchandise. There were temporary tattoos, cheap toys, jewelry, and these fairy statuettes.

In the 4-H club building there were handicrafts that people had entered in crafting competitions. There were a good number of quilts.
The kids' crafts section had baked goods, drawings, and photography. There was also clothing made by kids, which was actually quite impressive. I always have mixed feelings on the drawings, because many of the entries are not original works of art, many anime/manga pictures. In this picture, the drawing of the owl with a banana peal on its head was kinda funny.

There were animal shows but we really didn't look at them. The livestock always smell so bad. We did walk through the dog show area, but it was 95 degrees and the dogs were all suffering, some had fans and cold towels draped over them.

After walking around for awhile we sat down and ate a deep fried onion and shaved ice. A very small fair, but something to do on this hot day.

My Little Boy is a Ladies Man

2010-07-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today I had a doctor's appointment. Like always, the nurse on duty was cooing over how cute he is. In the exam room Bryan kept staring at the nurse's butt! When she walked out of the room he started to cry. I said, "Oh Bryan! Do you miss the hot nurse?" He immediately went from crying to BIG smiles and started flapping his arms up and down, giggling. That's my boy!

Barbie-sized Temari

2010-07-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

Very small temari I had made years ago. I just found them under a dresser. I think my cat thought they were toys. The designs on these were done with regular sewing thread. It makes the design look intricate and just like a full size temari, but 1:6 scale.

Here is a pic of the temari next to my Happy New Year Barbies, for size comparison.

And, it's a dark picture, but one of the temari being held in the hand of a maiko Barbie I made, and the other temari at her feet. They are perfect size for Barbie sized dolls.

Sick

2010-07-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've been sick a lot lately. Everything with pregnancy and delivery went great, but nursing has been a little problematic. I keep getting breast infections. It's terrible. I get a fever, chills, aches, etc. The chills are weird in summer. I'm freezing and shaking uncontrollably, but it's hot out. And I get weak and sore everywhere. Monday and Tuesday I could barely walk. I toke a bath and couldn't get out of the tub. I had to carry Bryan to go change his diaper and I almost fell down because I couldn't support my own weight. It's the scariest sickness I've ever had.

Bobby stayed home yesterday to take care of me and Bryan. I was able to get a lot of sleep, so I feel better today. The problem is that I've had 3 of these infections in 6 weeks. Not good. I'm thinking if I get sick again I might have to feed Bryan formula.

Nosy Neighbor Syndrome

2010-07-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have not been blessed with good neighbors. One neighbor revs their dirt bikes at all hours of the day. Across the street used to be redneck neighbors with too many children; a husband that liked to stand in the middle of the street wearing nothing but shorts, beer belly, and a trucker hat while he played with a whip; and the mom who had to chase her dog every time she opened the garage door (you'd think she'd learn after the first few times) and she'd call the dog with a voice like she was stuck in a wood chipper.

About 6 months ago that family suddenly disappeared leaving the house abandoned with all their stuff still there. Last week it was purchased and now every night there is an army of vehicles in the front yard as they renovate (apparently the house was left in deplorable condition). I haven't met them yet, and don't know what kind of neighbors they will be, but they seem to have strong family bonds. My husband talked to them and told me that they are fixing it up for a family member and her daughter. I see them sitting on the porch as the family works on the house.

Now, the neighbor that worries me the most is the closest to my home. Our bedroom is on the side of the house closest to this neighbor's living room, and he likes to play LOUD music late at night and even into the morning. Apparently the police do not act on noise complaints unless 3 people complain, and he doesn't have 3 occupied houses near him to make complaints. He also likes to weed his driveway with a flamethrower, and it is also what he used to light fireworks on July 4th, and nearly blew up when he put the flaming end of the torch next to the gas tank.

Recently, the neighbor has been having his fun by skidding his car all over the road in front of mine and his houses, and around the corners down the street. Last week I yelled at him because I was standing in my driveway holding my baby Bryan and he skid sideways into his driveway full speed, getting up on 2 wheels and almost taking out the mailboxes before nearly flipping over into my driveway crushing me and Bryan. Thankfully my giant rose bushes seem to have been fed gamma radiation, so I would have had at least something to take most of the impact if he rolled his truck. His excuse was "I'm young and stupid, it's kind of expected of me." Way to go, lemming. I told him there are children that play on this street. "I don't see any children." Yeah, you wouldn't see them until it was too late. Now the front of my house the road is full of skid marks, and so is his driveway.

Last Friday, I was coming home and there was a huge accident at the end of the street. Must have been 6 cars, the whole street was closed off. Only one cop there, but lots of emergency vehicles, but there were regular people (probably those involved in the accident) directing traffic to take side streets to avoid the closed road. The side streets were residential streets and everyone was on their front porches watching the detoured cars like a street parade. When I finally made it past the intersection with the accident I saw that one vehicle was upside down and crushed flat. This is a small neighborhood street near a high school, 30mph speed limit, how could someone be that reckless to get in such a bad wreck?

Few days later I realized, I haven't seen my stupid neighbor since Thursday. Now I'm wondering if he is the one that caused that accident. If so, karma. I told him to slow down. I still hope he is ok, and if he was involved I hope that he learns his lesson.

Giggles!

2010-07-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Bryan is learning how to giggle! When I play with him he gives me big smiles and waves his arms around and makes quiet giggle-like noises. He's also learning to control his arms better, so he's been grabbing onto my clothes and hair. It's fun watching him grow and change.

Last week was his first time with a babysitter. We took him to my sister's place while Bobby and I went to see a movie. They had a good time with him, playing and going for a walk.

My sister taking Bryan for a walk. He falls asleep in the car seat and stroller.

Uncle Scotty cuddling with Bryan.

Bryan has been making all kinds of funny faces. This one looks just like a monkey!

Yesterday, Bryan fell asleep and I had to take a video of him snoring!

Bryan Smiles!

2010-07-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

I managed to get pictures of Bryan's smile! We had a good time with grandma today.

1 month old!

2010-07-06T10:45:00.001-07:00

Bryan is one month old today! Tomorrow he has his wellness checkup. He's grown so fast! Today we are going to visit family.
Meanwhile, I have a few new pictures to add:

I love it when he makes this face! Kissy! Sorry for the upward angle and blur, I was holding him and it was difficult to take a good pic.

My three boys cuddling on the couch! Matrix had been snuggling up alongside Bryan lately. I think Matrix has accepted him. Just wait until Bryan is old enough to pull tails..

"My finger". Bryan is looking toward the TV. He can't see it yet but he can hear it. Matrix looks content being Bobby's armrest.

And one of my favorite activities! Cuddles!

Sleepy

2010-06-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Bryan will be 3 weeks old! He's settling into a pattern of being sleepy during the day and fussy at night. I read somewhere that it is common because in the womb he got used to me eating a large meal at night so at night he wants to feed all the time. That and he has really bad gas right now. I think my antibiotics are causing it. I've stopped taking them so hopefully he will feel better soon.

I found some photos on my cell phone from his 2 week milestone. This is the only one I could extract from my phone..

During the day he's sleepy! Sometimes he is impossible to wake up. Unfortunately sometimes at night he is impossible to put to sleep! He'll grow out of it, for now it's sleepless nights for me! Anyways, video of Bryan being comatose!

Bryan meets another newborn!

2010-06-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Bryan is doing good! He's 16 days old now. At his 2 week old doctor's appointment he had gained weight, now 7lbs 3oz. The doctor was pleased with the weight gain. He joked that I should become a wet nurse. Bobby joked that I should sell my milk on ebay...

We had a pretty good weekend. Saturday we went to my sister's house for my nephew's 5th birthday. Bryan got to get spoiled. Everyone took turns changing diapers (I'm glad to let them!), and my nieces Atlantis and Dakota cuddled and fed Bryan a bottle.

On Father's day we went to the Tahoma National Cemetery to visit Bobby's dad's burial site. It was pretty emotional since he never got a chance to meet Bryan before he passed away.

Afterwards we got a call from Bobby's friend who just had a baby the night before. We went and visited the little guy at the hospital. Tucker James, he was 8lbs 8oz. We put the baby's together in the bassinet to cuddle together, and Bryan looks so much smaller! They'll probably grow up as playmates.

Bryan kept trying to suckle on Tucker!
Bryan was really trying hard to get Tucker's cheek, so I grabbed the camcorder and gave Bryan a boost to Tucker's cheek. "om nom nom!"

Welcome Bryan!

2010-06-12T10:31:00.001-07:00

Bryan Henry Sarnoski
Born 6-6-2010 at 10:45 am
6lbs 9oz, 19.5 inches

Bryan is finally here!

On the evening of the 5th I was counting my contractions and got excited when they got to 5 minutes apart. My doctor told me to go to the hospital when they got this close together. I called the hospital and they told me to stay home and take a bath, and that first time moms generally labor for a long time. After the bath the contractions were now 4 minutes apart, but the hospital still said not to come in and to try and sleep through the night. I was angry because my doctor said it was important for me to go in asap to get antibiotics since I was Group B Strep positive (a bacterial infection that 30% of women have - it has no symptoms and is harmless except it can effect the baby if not treated). When I went to bed the contractions were 3 minutes apart, but I managed to fall asleep.

3:30 am my water broke! It was SIGNIFICANT! I woke up yelling "Bobby! Bobby! My water broke! Omigod omigod omigod!" Bobby was level-headed and excited, got up and started getting ready. I jumped out of bed (completely soaked) and ran to the bathroom (soaking the carpet on the way there).

We got checked into the hospital and I was checked - 4cm dilated 70% effaced. They started the IV and antibiotics and I rested as the contractions gradually got stronger. My sister and Scotty were the first to show up. By the time Bobby's friend/sister Tia showed up I was throwing up. I was 6cm dilated and the nurse suggested I take a bath to help with the pain. The bath didn't help. All the guests had left the room at this point and I was yelling through some of the contractions. I finally had enough IV fluid in me to get the epidural and I was soon a happy camper. It wasn't long before I was ready to push.

I pushed for a little over an hour when they called the doctor in. They couldn't find my doctor so the nurses ended up paging him on the intercom telling him to come "stat!". It wasn't an emergency but I hope my visitors didn't start to worry! The doctor came in and was peeved at the nurses! Bobby was a good coach during the pushing. I was worried that he'd pass out or something, but he was excited and proud watching the baby come. Bryan came out sunny-side up (face up) so the doctor had to turn him around once the head was out. I'm a little sad that they didn't offer Bobby the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord. But, having come from a family with a history of pregnancy problems, everything went problem-free, and quickly for a first timer!

And now, pictures!

Bryan getting weighed. He's 6lbs 9oz. His head was a little oblong, but now it's perfectly shaped.

I held him for a long time. He is so beautiful! He cried when he was delivered but after that he was really calm and quiet.

He has eye ointment so his eyelids look shiny. All the guests; my sister and Scotty, Tia, and Bobby's brother Eric are all hovering around taking pictures.

His first bath at the hospital. The nurse bathed him. He didn't like it!

Swaddled up like a cocoon!

He was very sleepy for the first day. At night he got fussy. We stayed at the hospital for 2 days.

Going home, Bryan was very calm and fell asleep in the car seat. When we got home we were curious to see how Matrix would react to him. I don't think Matrix understood that Bryan was a living thing. Matrix was just excited we were home.

It wasn't until Bryan got fussy and started crying that Matrix took interest. He sits at the playcrib with his eyes wide looking at the baby. His expression looks like he's saying "what the heck is your problem?!"

Auntie Tia visited yesterday and brought us food and played with Bryan. He was fussy the night before so we didn't get much sleep. We played with him all day to try and keep him awake so he'd sleep during the night. Bryan was passed out and it was impossible to wake him! During a diaper change Bryan managed to pee all over the place (lol!) so we gave him a bath. I knew he'd hate it, so I hoped it'd wake him long enough to tucker him out later in the evening. It worked! We slept for 4 hours straight! And after a feeding and diaper change we got another 3 hours of sleep. So today we're feeling good.

Still Preggo

2010-06-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm still pregnant. At my last appointment my doctor said I wouldn't need to schedule another appointment and that I'd have the baby by then, but I scheduled the appointment anyways, and looks like I'll be making it to that appointment! Oh boy. I get the feeling the doctor will probably schedule to have me induced. We'll see. I am still getting contractions, but they are 7-10 minutes apart and getting a little stronger.

My sister and her boyfriend bought us a baby swing! It swings at different angles and plays music, nature sounds, and white noise. It'll be a very useful for a fussy baby.

Of course, I had to put my kitty Matrix in the swing. After the swing was assembled he actually wasn't curious about the new thing at all. But I put him in it and he was like "oh, hello.. this is nice!" I took the picture while the swing was swaying, so it's a bit blurry.

I wanted to put a baby bib on him and matching sockies, but I don't think he'd have appreciated that.

Zokei Bonsai

2010-05-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

On my previous post for the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival 2010, I mentioned that I learned to make Zokei Bonsai - bonsai trees made of silk, wire, and rice paper. I wanted to share some of those bonsai I've made:

This is the first one I made, a plum tree. Since this was made in the "beginner's course" of the Zokei Bonsai class, the flowers and buds are store-bought. The focus was learning to create an attractive tree trunk and branches. Near the base is a piece of drift wood that was incorporated into the trunk.

This is the second one I made, an Iris. The focus was learning silk flower making, so this is an "Ikebana" type arrangement. The flowers are layered sheer Japanese silk, and the petal textures were created by wringing the silk between gauze rags in a particular way.

This is an azalea. The flowers and leaves are all silk, and their textures were created using a special type of stick-shaped iron that looks like a soldering gun.

A small arrangement of African violets. The leaves are silk and formed the same way are the iris petals, the violets are satin and were formed with the stick-like iron with a rounded tip to form the cup-shaped petals.

A bonsai I made for New Years: Shochikubai. Shochikubai is a combination used to decorate during the New Year as a symbol of happiness, using pine, bamboo, and plum. The arrangement is accented by a dry riverbed of white pebbles. The pine tree is elevated on a cool rock, and the pine tree's roots are snaking down the rock.

These are some camellia I made that were left over from a camellia tree I did. Unfortunately that tree is still in my instructor's possession, so I do not have pictures of it.

Beaded Scorpion

2010-05-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

I used to make beaded spiders for my co-workers. For my husband I made this beaded scorpion to use as a prop for an L5R card tournament. This guy was fun to make. Eventually I'd like to put up a tutorial, but if you are crafty you can try to replicate it from the pictures. The stinger and claws are heart-shaped beads!

update

2010-05-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a doc appointment. Originally the doctor said that he thought I was going to have a big baby, 8-9lbs, so I asked for an ultrasound to see how big he's getting. He's 6lbs some ounces now, he'll be about 7lbs when born. So everything is looking great! We were trying to get a good look at his face on the ultrasound, but he was too busy sucking his thumb!

37 weeks pregnant!

Lately, Matrix has been climbing into the crib :-( and shedding hair all over the bedding. I got tired of lint-rolling the cat hair off the sheets, and I'm worried he might poke a hole through the waterproof layer of the mattress when he jumps out. So Bobby and I were thinking of ways to keep the cat out but still be able to have the door open so we can see in easily. Cats can jump over pet gates, so that was not an option. I looked online and the only options I could find were to keep the door closed all the time (and use a baby monitor, which I don't like) or install a screen door.

So today I picked up a screen door! Its sort of awkward but I hope it'll work. Bobby is going to put it up when he gets home tonight. I propped it up against the door frame to see what it would look like, and as soon as Matrix heard the baby's room door open he came running -- head-first into the screen! And he preceded to ram his face into the screen 3 more times! It was so funny! By the time I grabbed my cell phone, he was finished bonking his head and just inspecting the door in frustration.

Bryan's first handmade blanket

2010-05-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today I received a handmade baby blanket for Bryan. My mom made this for Bryan, and is in the process of crocheting many more things! :-)

Nursery

2010-05-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

We have the nursery set up. We were lucky enough that Bobby's mom bought most everything we needed. Unfortunately, that means we didn't get to pick anything out. I had inspirations for what I wanted the room to look like, but no money.

Since grandma decided we didn't need furniture (she wanted us to put baby's clothes in a tupperware container...) we have to reuse some antique furniture I had: lacquered dressers with Chinese paintings on them. They are neutral colored, and the bamboo sort of matches the green crib bedding. The dressers are old and the lacquer is in bad condition (covered in nail polish, chipping, coffee rings) but it's better than plastic bins.

I'd love to decorate the walls, but there is no telling what grandma will buy next that will totally clash with what we've got going now. And I don't feel safe hanging anything over the crib. I have a pretty panda picture that would go with the Asian theme, but no other wall space to put it. That crib is way too big!

Belly Pictures

2010-05-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mother's day marked day one of my 9th month of pregnancy! For my Mother's day gift Bobby got me a massage. It was nice, I'd only had a professional massage once before. Since I'm preggers, I had to lay on my side. Bryan got a massage too, via belly rub. He was squirming all around in my belly, and afterward the massage therapist and I watched him squirm to get back to his favorite part of my tummy.

So, with the last few weeks remaining, I realized I hadn't posted belly pictures yet. Forgive the blurriness.

29 weeks

32 weeks

35 weeks

Another passing

2010-05-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Today my uncle Butch passed away. This death was expected, and isn't as hard on me as my father-in-law's was. I wasn't very close to my uncle. He was still young, late 40's I think, but he died because of the bad decisions he made with his life.

My uncle was a schizophrenic, he talked to himself and at times thought he was Jesus. He also got into drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc since he was young. He had contracted hepatitis C from sharing drug needles, his lungs were bad from smoking, his liver and kidneys had failed from alcohol abuse, and recently he had gotten sudden severe diabetes they believe attributed to his recent diet change of eating only cakes and cookies.

Until now he had been living with my grandmother, since he was unable or unwilling to care for himself. She had recently just bailed him out of jail, on charges of assault with a knife. His wild behavior had also caused her to loose her home recently, so she's had to move suddenly to an apartment in a bad part of town (only one available on short notice).

We knew he didn't have long. A few days ago grandma called an ambulance to get him, since he could not get out of bed, and he had been suffering urinary and fecal incontinence with blood present. They would not let her visit him in the hospital because he was unresponsive and critical condition. He passed away this morning, it is my understanding that he was taken off of life support.

My mom had gone to see him at the hospital with my grandma. My mom tells me they had to go through security decontamination procedures in order to see him. I don't know if he had something infectious, but they took all kinds of precautions.

I will be trying to attend the funeral this Thursday. The only thing I can say to others about my uncle's life is too be smart about what decisions you make. Choosing drugs and partying may sound like a good way to enjoy life, but it really is a quick and painful way to die. Not to mention the pain of a mother who had to nurse her adult son, and now has to bury him.

Photos from father-in-law's funeral

2010-05-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law took photos of the honor guard ceremony that was held at my father-in-law's funeral. I thought I'd share them.

After the funeral, outside the honor guard did a 3-volley salute.

Playing "Taps". I've heard it before, but this time I could not keep from crying. It was very emotional.

During the 3-volley salute and "Taps", Bobby had his hand up in salute as well, since he also served in the Army.

Folding the flag. They folded it twice since it wasn't secure the first try. Bobby's mom now has the flag in a glass case.

Presenting the flag to my mother-in-law.

The honor guard carried the coffin to the Hurst.

Bobby holding his father's old Army photograph.

Matrix and socks

2010-05-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

There is nothing my kitty loves more at the end of a long hard day than to curl up with daddy's socks. Or really any of my husband's clothing.
Bonus video. He was actually doing this for quite a while, I only managed to get video of the tail end of the sock cuddling.

Father-in-law's urn laid to rest

2010-04-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today we laid to rest my father-in-law's urn at the Tahoma National Cemetery.

The veterans at the cemetery held a small service for us. At the main funeral we had the honor guard present, and they carried the coffin, folded the flag, and fired a 3-volley salute. For the cemetery we brought the

At the main funeral we had the honor guard present, and they carried the coffin, folded the flag, and fired a 3-volley salute. For the cemetery we brought the flag with us and the veterans presented it to mom again. The veterans said some words in his memory and the chaplain said a prayer.

The veterans also did a 3-volley salute and a bugler played "Taps". I cried when they played the bugle, both times at the church funeral and the cemetery service.

The urn was placed in a wall. There were many flowers delivered ahead of time.

After mom placed the urn in the wall she prayed for a while. She said she feels lonely now without the ashes at home. But it is good that he will be remembered here as a veteran.

My brother-in-law Eric, after the niche was sealed. The plate will be engraved later, for now just a temporary name plate. After mom and everyone left, Bobby went back alone to say goodbye.

Rancor Geisha!

2010-04-27T19:16:00.001-07:00

I made this a few years ago. My husband was going to a Legend of the Five Rings (L5R, a card game) tournament. I posted earlier about the tournament this year, when he dressed up in samurai costume. The card players sometimes also bring trinkets called "imperial favors", these can be anything related to the oriental-themed game. So this was a joke imperial favor I came up with: a Rancor from Star Wars dressed up as a geisha! For those unfamiliar, the rancor is the monster that Jabba the Hutt had in Return of the Jedi that Luke fought. Here is what the original toy looked like: link

Bobby tells me this was a smash hit at the tournament. He won a prize for having the best imperial favor! Lol!

2010 Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival

2010-04-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 18th, I attended the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival with my sister and her family. We were lucky since Sunday was soo beautiful, and was the only day that weekend that it did not rain. I dressed my sister Nicole and niece Dakota up in yukata! Please enjoy all the pictures, the girls looked very pretty! I didn't dress up since I'm big pregnant. While I actually do have a maternity yukata, I don't have a heko-obi (a soft version of the wide sash that ties around the belly).

Just like last year, we started the day off by getting some lattes. Since the girls were dressed up, we got a fun reaction when we walked into Cutter's Point coffee shop. Everyone turned around and stared and the man at the counter said "you all must be here for the sushi!"

I wanted to get a good picture of Nicole, Scotty, and Dakota together - a family portrait. As we were walking to the festival from the parking garage, I got this cute pic of the three walking hand-in-hand.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is held every year at Seattle Center because it is the home to thousands of cherry trees donated to the city of Seattle from Japan. As we walked to the festival, we could see the Space Needle framed in the branches of the cherry trees. Last year all the cherry blossoms had already fallen off of the trees, so we were lucky to be able to view the blossoms this year.

We started the day off at the Center House where the main stage was holding performances. It is also where the food court is, so we got a bite to eat first! We weren't aware that they were selling Japanese food in the Fisher Pavilion, so we missed out on that... Instead we had some burgers and burritos while taiko drums played on the stage.

Again this year they had the booth that dresses people in yukata so that people can take pictures of themselves looking Japanese-y. Never a fan of this booth, they do a terrible job. The umbrella the girl is holding actually has a very large hole in it. Surprisingly there were very few people dressed up in yukata. Actually, there were few people at all at the festival, compared to past years. I only saw two other people walking around dressed up: a toddler and one young lady. Nicole and Dakota had been approached many times by people asking about their outfits and where they could get one!

After eating, we went to the Fisher Pavilion, where most of the cultural displays were at. We first admired the many Ikebana flower arrangements.

This one was my favorite, since the cherry blossom arrangement fit very nicely with the theme of the festival.

Some shodo calligraphy.

These are Mizuhiki Zaiku by artist Haruko Shimizu. Mizuhiki is stiff string made of hemp, and is used by samurai, geisha, brides, etc to tie their hair in top-knots, and also tied in pretty knots to adorn cards and presents. These are massive art pieces made from tying the mizuhiki string into complicated decorations, like the samurai helmet.

These are Zokei Bonsai make by Setsuko Evans. I took lessons from Setsuko Evans and have made a few of these trees myself! Zokei bonsai are fake trees, made with wire, rice paper, and silk. They give a realistic beauty, without the fear of killing a bonsai tree!

A beautiful set of armor. At this display was a nice katana as well, and a set-up to demonstrate blade sharpening.

Some kimono were on display. Uchikake wedding kimono hanging up, and some dress-forms wearing kimono. There were dressing demonstrations held to show the complicated skill of putting kimono on.

There were booths set up for children (or adults acting like kids) to try their hand at games and skills, such as origami or Japanese calligraphy. We waited for a long time to try calligraphy, but people are rude and they kept cutting in front of us. We played with a traditional toy, called kendama. It is a stick with cups on the ends in which you try to catch a ball and string in the cups. I took a video of the girls playing with the kendama. Dakota catches the ball at the beginning of the video, and Nicole near the end.

After seeing all the displays in the Fisher Pavilion, we went outside and enjoyed the beautiful International Fountain. This is one of the coolest fountains I've seen, set at the bottom of a giant bowl with powerful water jets and even fog effects.

Kids and adults loved getting soaked on such a beautiful day, or playing games of running from the random jets of water. You can hear Scotty at the end of the video, "haha! Suckers!"

Before the day was done, we definitely wanted to get some good pictures of the girls in their outfits under the cherry trees.
Dakota's fan says "festival".

I got this candid shot of Nicole as she was setting down her bag on a rock to get her picture taken. It is one of my favorite shots because of how natural it is.

Lovely photo of Nicole, taken by Scotty. The fallen petals on the ground create a lovely scene.

My favorite, a natural, candid shot of Dakota.

Beneath the trees are many plaques and engraved stones with special messages or meaningful quotes.

And the paving stones for the sidewalk under the cherry trees are made of tiles commemorating donations, memories of people who have passed, or drawing made by children. I spotted one that says "konnichi wa", hello or good afternoon in Japanese.

And finally I wanted to catch a video of the girls simply walking around in their yukata.

Baby's Playpen

2010-04-15T16:04:00.001-07:00

Today I practiced assembling and disassembling the travel play yard. Thank you to all of Bobby's friends that bought this for us! It was a wonderful Christmas gift. ^_^

My kitty Matrix likes the mobile. The playpen has a bassinet insert (which Matrix is sitting on), a changing table that goes on top, and holder that clips to the side that holds diapers and what-not.

I want to position the play yard where that TV is sitting. The TV was brought upstairs temporarily for a video game party, but somehow never got put away. It think that will be a good place, right in the middle of the living room but against the wall. The thing is huge! And sturdy enough that it supports Matrix's 16lb fat butt!

Key West Vacation 2009

2010-03-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've recently been going through old photos, many to upload onto my facebook account. I came across this set of photos I took on my cell phone, Feb. 2009, during a family vacation to the Florida Keys.

One of the first places we went to was a wildlife conservatory. There were dolphin shows, sea lion show, a parrot show, and other animals to see. The animals are all ones that could not be released back into the wild.

The sea turtles are very large. There was one large turtle that was born with a deformed shell, she had to wear a life vest in order to swim correctly. I could not get a picture of her, however, because my cell phone's camera is no good. This is one sea turtle picture that turned out ok.

There were many streams that showed the many native fish in the Florida Keys. These are barracudas.
Some parrots.
Driving to the Keys you drive past the Everglades, home of the Florida crocodile. I was hoping to see some on the side of the road, but no luck. This one was seen at the park.

Also, past a certain point driving in South Florida, I noticed that there were no crows. It was strange to me since I am used to seeing crows everyday. In the Florida Keys there are many pelicans and other large birds. There are also wild chickens. They are protected and considered by locals to be the "national bird". I spotted a wild chicken at a local sporting supply store.

My husband and I went on a deep sea fishing trip with my father-in-law. It was my first time, and I'm not much of a fisher. I snapped this picture as we were leaving the shore. The water is beautiful green near the islands.

When we got out to sea the weather became a little stormy. My husband, Bobby, became sea sick and spent most of the time laying down. I too became sea sick later, but I kept fishing after throwing up! My father-in-law told me to just look out at the horizon, not at the water, and it helped me to not get sick. When the fishing boat was moving to different fishing spots, we were followed by wild dolphins!

When we came back from the fishing trip, the pelicans were ready to try and steal fish. We gave away the fish that we caught.
There are some nice restaurants in the Florida Keys. However, there are two things that are not there that I am used to seeing everywhere in Seattle: teriyaki restaurants and espresso stands! A world without lattes and mochas is so foreign to me! There was one quaint little coffee house, but they only did gourmet roast coffees and wines.

My favorite memory of this vacation was the one time Bobby and I got to go out on our own. We rented a kayak and explored the mangrove forests! During the whole trip I was admiring the mangrove trees from the road side, so it was amazing to go kayaking in the trees.

The mangroves grow in the water and twist around to form thick walls and caves. The photo above was taken from inside a mangrove "cave".

These two pictures are blurry, but give it a dreamy look to me. You can see an entrance to another dark "cave" in the picture above. Most of the "caves" were very narrow and hard to maneuver, so we had to grab the branches sometimes to pull ourselves along. Climbing the branches were little purple crabs! We had to be careful not to grab a purple crab when grabbing branches!
You can see the tip of the kayak, and see how narrow it is in the mangrove "cave".

We also visited Key West and walked among the shops. Since we were there in February there were no young people there celebrating spring break, so we were lucky to not be crowded. And the weather was still nice without being overly hot.

When we were kayaking, I did apply sunblock, but I made the mistake of not bringing it with me in the kayak! We kayaked for 2 hours, so I did end up with a sunburn. The next day I could barely walk, and by the time we were leaving for the airport it was too painful. I had to use a wheelchair at the airport. We had to take two planes home, first one was to North Carolina, and then to Seattle. When we got to North Carolina my legs had swollen and blistered and I had to be taken to the hospital. :-( I had third degree burns! After getting morphine and several other pain killers, they let me fly back home, and it took many more weeks to recover from the burns on my legs. I did take pictures of the burns and blisters but I won't share them here! They are too gross (blisters as large as soda cans!). If you need a good reason to wear sunblock, or if you are morbidly curious, I can email you the pictures, but you've been warned!

Despite that, the trip, and especially the kayaking, was well worth it.

Temari

2010-03-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

Temari are Japanese ornaments made by embroidering designs over a ball wrapped in thread. Originally these were made as toys for young girls, but now it is a traditional Japanese art.

Making temari is a fun craft, and can be learned easily with a good book. I recommend this one. You will see many of my temari pictured below were learned from this book.

Colors used can be as playful as you like. Red, White, and Blue is a fun theme, I've seen collections of many temari in these colors photographed together.

This pattern is one of the easiest to make. It is a chrysanthemum, called "Kiku" in Japanese.

This Kiku temari uses colors inspired by Seattle Seahawks football team.

This one I used the colors used in a kimono I had seen.

This is a large temari. Before wrapping in thread, I cut it in half and inserted a bell so that the temari rings when shaken.

An all pink temari made for Breast Cancer Awareness.

An egg shape is not traditional, but temari technique is excellent for making Easter decorations.

A different colored flower is used on each side.

A red, white, and blue kiku. This is one of the first I've made.

This is a variation of the kiku pattern. It reminds me of a yabane (arrow) pattern used in old kimono.

Baby name decided

2010-03-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Bobby and I had decided that the baby's name will be Bryan Henry Sarnoski.

We chose the name Bryan in memory of Bobby's best friend who passed away in junior high. Bobby and his father were close friends with Bryan's parents even until now. Yesterday, we spent 3 hours just talking with them over the passing of Bobby's father, Ski, and talking of the happy memories they have of the time they were all together in junior high playing on the school chess team.

For the middle name, Henry was Bobby's father's middle name. Ski was so proud when he learned he was going to be a grandpa.

In Loving Memory of Ski

2010-03-28T03:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 21st, my father-in-law passed away. He was 73 and died at work of a sudden massive heart attack. It has been a difficult time, but we are healing and remembering all the happy times we've had. Thank you to everyone who have been there to support us during this time of loss.

Haruka Waloli outfit

2010-03-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Going to that doll show kind of put me in the mood to dig through old stuff. This is the first outfit I ever made for my doll, Haruka. It is a waloli yukata. Waloli is Asian inspired Lolita fashion. It mimics a Japanese yukata but as a frilly mini skirt.

L5R Kotei

2010-03-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

The card game tournament went well. Bobby told me there were 80 people there. He placed 9th, and several of his friends also made it to the top 16. Out of the 80 people, only 3 dressed in costumes. I'm surprised! It used to be that fans of this game would participate in as many events as possible (since the card player's actions determine the outcome of the main storyline) but I guess people are straying away from the "culture" of the game. Anyways, Bobby won best costume, yay! It is something I get excited about because it involves kimono..

Crossroads Doll & Teddy Bear Show

2010-03-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Today is a convention day! Bobby is in Seattle playing in the L5R Kotei (Legends of the Five Rings collectible card game tournament). I'm hoping he does well! Today I decided at the last minute to go to the Crossroads Doll & Teddy Bear show at the Puyallup Fair Grounds. I brought my BJD, Haruka, with me. I found this nice weeping cherry to take a photo under. Managed to get a picture just before it started raining.
Inside the convention hall are tons of booths selling dolls and bears of all types, mostly antiques. Most of the convention customers are older ladies, and many talked to me when they saw my doll in my arms. Most people will say that Asian ball joint dolls look creepy, I think because they are used to the traditional types of dolls, but more ladies this year said that my doll was very beautiful. I think after a few years of working this convention they've gotten used to seeing the various other BJDs that are carried around, which are mostly goth!
Some of the vendors were rather rude to me. I was talking with a doll wig vendor, nicely told her what I was looking for. She looked around a bit and rudely told me "I got nothing for you. Try someone else." My reaction was, wow, ok.. but I decided to browse anyways in case I found something that would work. But she came back and said "I don't have anything for you!" and shooed me away. I also encountered many rude, elderly customers who had no problems with pushing me around and knocking me over (even though I'm obviously pregnant now! I yelled at one old man for shoving me) and taking things right out of my hands. I wasn't planning on buying anything anyways, but still people need to learn to be more courteous.

Most teddy bears at the show are standard, but I like this lady's creations of dragons. Some look a little cartoonish for my tastes, but some were quiet impressive. They are stuffed animals, but I think some use clay in the heads and especially the horns.
The bodies are velvety and they have wire skeletal structures, so they can be bent and posed however you want. Each one is unique and interesting! She even had a unicorn or two.
Every year there is this one vendor that sells clothes especially for BJDs. The clothes are rather plain, but well made. I guess the theme this year was "Woodstock". I got a picture of Haruka sitting with the vendor's BJDs on display. Haruka looks bigger, but just because she's in the foreground.
At this vendor's booth was a group of BJD owners. They had about 5-6 dolls with them, all of them goth. Most BJDs that I've seen are goth, with white skin etc. The owner of this doll was awesome. She had huge platform boots, wild makeup, grey spiky hair, and was wearing a short satin "kimono" coat.
The owner was nice enough to let me take a picture of one of her dolls. This boy has very white skin and twisted black wings. I forgot to ask what this doll's name was! I wanted a picture of one of her girl dolls, because she had a lovely goth-lolita dress on, but she was in the process of trying doll clothes on the other dolls. This boy doll was the only one fully dressed.

So that was my day at the doll show! I hope to report later how things went with Bobby's card tournament. Hopefully he remembers to take pictures for me. If not, I at least have a picture of the costume he's wearing.

Beaded Teddy Bear

2010-03-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

I made this tiny 3D beaded teddy bear. I used an online pattern/tutorial. Its the first time I tried this bead weaving technique. Its rather hard to do with seed beads! The beads that the original artist used are bigger, but I like the daintiness of my bear.

Facebook

2010-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Trying out Facebook, no promises on how long it will last! I tried MySpace, but got tired of the drama. I don't have the drive to put a lot of effort into social networking sites. I do have a Twitter account as well, but almost never use it. I still want my main focus to be this blog, whenever I have anything interesting to report.

Newer Kimono Barbies

2010-02-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

2003 Princess of Japan Barbie. This is the palest and skinniest Asian Barbie I've seen. The kimono and obi are made of what seems to be shower curtain fabric, and is accented by shiny white satin in the under-collar, obi-age and obi-jime. She also wears no tabi.
The obi is a deeply pleated tateya that normally is a solid rectangle, but I spread the bow out using pins to hold it open. I like what they did with the hairline on this doll. It's painted in the back to give a natural look.

This is the 2008 Happy New Year Oshogatsu Barbie. Gold Label, Japan Exclusive, very expensive ($160-300). Bobby got me this one for Christmas when it came out. I was reluctant at first to remove it from the package because of the price, but I'm not all about resale value and collectablity, I want to be able to enjoy thoroughly. She's got the most lovely face and many flowers in her hair, and even a bira-bira kanzashi. The kimono is lined a pink satin. There is a white under-collar and a date-eri that is red with tiny white pattern.
The kimono is not removable. The obi is sewn on and can not be removed. The obi is the unfortunate feature. It looks as though they attempted to do a fukura-suzume bow and failed miserably. Also, there is no obi-age. After the release of this doll, the did a remake to sell exclusively at Walmart. Looks the same but with a white kimono instead of pink, and she has a purse instead of a hagoita (battledore). Originally sold for $70, but so few were made that now I can't find it for under $1500. I'm not a die-hard collector, and the quality isn't worth looking into it.
So, that's the collection so far. I hope to start adding kimono Jennys (Japan's version of Barbie) to my collection, and maybe some Licca-chans.

Older Kimono Barbies

2010-02-18T14:01:00.001-08:00

My least favorite Japanese Barbie ever made is the 1984 Dolls of the World Japanese Barbie. Thankfully I don't own it (lol), but to give you an idea: link. The Barbie collector photo works to make it look better than it is (That fan she's holding is a cardboard cut-out) Link The whole thing is one nasty, shiny satin mess. Anyways, second least favorite is the 1996 Dolls of the World Japanese Barbie:
Its a very florescent, Hawaiian-looking kimono. The collar is very narrow and the sleeves are sewn closed all the way around. The kimono actually does have a ohashori fold, but its so small that it always hides under the obi and is thus a usless feature when they were making it. Not to mention the perma-bent, robot arms. Obi is white with gold cross-hatch pattern, obi-jime is orange and gold. I actually like the obi-age, it's a sparkly pink netting, and looks like what girls where on modern kimono. The obi is tied in a sad, droopy tateya bow.

I was lucky enough to find a 1964 Barbie in Japan kimono. Originally it came as an outfit only, including kimono, obi, 3 kanzashi, a fan, zouri/tabi, and shamisen. Most sets are incomplete or broken now, especially the strings missing from the shamisen and the zouri ripped into two pieces.
I bought the kimono/obi only for $7 at a doll show and I added my own shamisen and hair accessory and dressed it on a vintage Barbie remake. The kimono has gold wisteria pattern and the obi is white with gold cherry blossoms.
The kimono is lined in white in the sleeves and skirt portion. The obi is tied in a tateya bow and is attached using a snap closure, rather than velcro like most others.

Oshogatsu Barbies

2010-02-18T11:46:00.000-08:00

The first two kimono Barbies I got were the Happy New Year, Oshogatsu Barbies. They were made in 1995 and 1996, and they feature the most authentic looking kimono for an American market Barbie.

The first edition Oshogatsu Barbie has a red kimono with gold blossoms. The fabric is textured with a traditional seigaiha pattern. The kimono's seams are almost all correct, except that it does have a seam at the shoulders (the sleeves are composed of two pieces of fabric rather than one folded over). The kimono also has an ohashori (folds at the waist, seen under the obi) that most other kimono Barbies do not have. The obi is white and gold brocade with a gold obi-jime and dark blue obi-age. The zouri are pearl colored with red straps.

The 2nd edition doll wears a pink kimono with a retro-bamboo-type textured fabric and gold cherry blossoms. The obi is also white and gold brocade, but a different pattern with more gold. The obi-jime is yellow and gold and the obi-age is light pink. Her zouri are pearl color with pink straps.

I think the most amazing feature on the Oshogatsu Barbie's kimono is the fact that it is lined!! 1st edition is lined in light green, 2nd edition in yellow. You can see the lining also in the openings of the sleeves and the date-eri.
If you remove the kimono you will see that there is a white full-length, sleeveless juuban. (Please don't remove the kimono unless you know how to put a kimono on yourself, neatly. Otherwise the Barbie will look sloppy if amateurishly redressed.. Also, there is a slight amount of clothing adhesive used to keep the kimono dressed neatly, undressing her will loose the benefit of that adhesive.) The juuban also doesn't have a true collar, but isn't well noticed when dressed completely. She also has 2 belts underneath. One is for padding, to soften Barbie's curvy figure, and the other is an elastic date-jime under the obi to keep the kimono neat and slip-free.

The obi are tied differently on both dolls.

Maiko Barbies

2010-02-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

I have a glass case in my living room that houses my kimono Barbie collection. Now, I'm not a "Barbie Collector", embarrassing my husband in front of his friends with frilly dolls displayed around the house, but rather I'm a "Kimono Collector" (with over 200 real kimono!) so I only have kimono-clad dolls.

That being said, I'm sure the next posts will mostly appeal to fellow kimono-junkies, so I'll focus on the kimono authenticity aspects mostly. Before I get to the bought Barbies, I'd like to share the two that I made myself. Both are maiko (apprentice geisha). I made them using dolls and fabric purchased from the thrift store.

The first one was made from a Mulan Barbie doll. The kimono was made from a polyester shirt with a plum blossom pattern, and the obi is from a scrap of Japanese craft brocade. The flower kanzashi are actually paper, but the yellow flowers and yellow obi-jime contrast well with all the pink and purple. The obi-dome is a cloisonne bead cut in half and matches the green leaves in the pink kimono.

Back view, you can see the pretty fabric of the darari obi. I didn't have the patience to create a okiya crest on the tail. I attempted it for the sake of looking authentic, but I didn't like the result. The hairstyle is ofuku.

Second maiko I made, I'm not as proud of. Only after I fixed the hair and painted the face did I realize this doll's arms do not move upward! Makes posing impossible, but kept going because of the effort already put into it. I love the fabric of the kimono. The lighting is bad in the picture, but its a nice purple with yuuzen-style print. The flower kanzashi are silver flowers, and the obi-dome is actually an oriental shaped button bought at Joann Fabrics.

The obi is made of Chinese brocade also from Joann Fabrics, in a pastel yellow with purple and orange butterflies that go well with the kimono. Her hairstyle is wareshinobu. Because her arms don't move, she appears to be very long and skinny. Oh well, she looks nice on display.

Update

2010-02-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Recently I had the routine test for gestational diabetes (pregnancy related diabetes, goes away after pregnancy) and it came back high, 185/140, so my doctor sent me to get a thorough test done. The second test wrecked me! It was a 3 hour long test that included fasting, drawing sample blood, drinking a glucose solution as fast as possible, and then drawing blood 3 more times, each an hour apart.

20 minutes after drinking the glucose on an empty stomach I became rather nauseous, compounded by the smell of an old ladies strong perfume sitting next to me in the waiting room. I went outside for a breathe of fresh air but it smelled like urine, probably homeless people use the area at night. The lab guy was nice and let me use an examination room to lay down in. I stayed laying down the rest of the 3 hours.

Thankfully my results came back negative! I was worried I'd have to take insulin until baby was born. So, I think the only complication I've had in pregnancy so far is mild anemia.

Recently, I haven't posting any crafts. I've been thinking of what I haven't shared, and I'd like to post about some temari I've made, my kimono Barbie collection, and bonsai.

Videos not working

2010-01-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

Some people can't see the uploaded video, so I attempted YouTube.

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bJqqWH-5jk

It's a boy!

2010-01-15T19:16:00.000-08:00

Today was my 20 week ultrasound. We got to see many things, inside the brain, heart, bones, cross-sections of the belly, and possibly his little boy-parts. We also learned that he is very wiggly, and is currently breach (feet pointing down, but he will probably reposition later) and he is standing and kicking right on my bladder. Joy!

The best part was watching him wiggle. Very active! He was giving the radiologist a hard time because he wouldn't stay still. (I'm saying "he", but the checking the gender via ultrasound isn't always accurate) The baby looking like a squirmy little kitten. Current heartrate is 145, weight 12 ounces, and is healthy and normal.

I got some grainy ultrasound pictures!This is the profile of the head. You can see the spine clearly, and the shape of the head. It is difficult to make out the face, but the proportions are normal.

You can see the face better in this picture.

This is supposed to be the "gender" picture. It's hard to see... This is a view from the butt. The grey column in the center is the main body/spine, the legs are amidst the black masses on the sides forming a V-shape, and there is a little thingy sticking up. Hard to see.. I'll outline:
Here is a video of baby moving around. You can see his legs pushing (on my bladder.. the image is turned, he's actually upright). Head is on left, feet and butt on right. Hopefully everything uploads ok. I'm having computer problems now, it crashed several times while trying to post this!

Update

2010-01-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post. I have my appointment set to have an ultrasound, we will find out the sex of the baby. That will be Jan. 15. Lately I haven't been sleeping. I had one glorious week of good sleep and waking up at a decent hour. Now my nerves are wrecked from my anxiety. I'm not sleeping at night, waking at 4pm, and screaming at the cat all day long. Hormones do terrible, terrible things...

I've been very flighty on what I want to do during the day. I want to fold 1000 origami cranes to hang in the nursery, but I don't have the energy or the drive to do it. I'm also in the middle of doing a picture in crewel embroidery, but same problem. I did manage to make some cute little strawberries out of felt, but I still felt tired after completing them. Ugh.

For New Years: didn't do anything really. Sat at home watching video games. Drank some sparkling cider and went to bed. The highlight was giving our cat Matrix a bath. After the ordeal he immediately went to comfort himself at the food dish. Poor, fat kitteh.

Longest Bead Strand

2009-12-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Shipwreck Beads and volunteered to help them break the Guinness World Record for the longest strand of beads. My sister told me about this event and invited me to come. Many volunteers showed up to the event, and we went to work stringing plastic pony beads. There were film crews and a radio station recording the event, and many important people in the city of Lacey were there officiating, such as the Mayor and chief of police.

The record to break was 1439.9 feet, it was set in Maryland, Oct. 30th. (Thank you Nicole for the research!) Shipwreck's goal was to reach a half mile. The record was broken at 3469 feet.

First OB Appointment

2009-11-02T22:35:00.000-08:00

Today was the first OB visit. Usual tests were done, but I don't know what exactly. I know I peed in a cup and had 3 vials of blood drawn. The doctor was very tired and thus, unfortunately, very unprofessional. I felt that all my questions were treated with frustration or unwillingness to answer. He even laughed at one of my questions. Despite that, we did have some happy moments. First, the nurse attempted to find the heartbeat but said that it may not be heard this early. We did hear the heartbeat immediately. It was loud and strong! Hearing it made me so excited that I started to laugh a little, which made it hard for the nurse to keep the thing positioned on my tummy. We also got a better look at the baby on the ultrasound! The heartbeat was seen and even the umbilical cord was quivering.Baby is facing downward in the ultrasound pic, with the head on the right. Huge noggin! You can see the leg and foot bent at its pointy little bottom. The long object pointing down in the middle is the umbilical cord.

We also learned that the initial due date is off by a week. The new due date is June 7th. The doctor kept asking if I was sure on the date of my last menstrual cycle, which was kind of annoying. I was 100% positive with this info because it correlated with my birthday. Regardless, baby is healthy so far, and I couldn't be happier.

Halloween at the E.R.

2009-11-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Halloween! I ended up with a scare and had Bobby take me to the emergency room. I had started bleeding and became worried. At the E.R. I was examined to make sure my cervix was ok - it was. And I had blood drawn to check my pregnancy hormones. If the hormones were low then there was a danger of miscarriage, but mine were where they should be. And, I had an ultrasound done. It is only about an inch long so was hard to make anything out, but we did see the heartbeat and were assured that baby was ok.It is the mass on the left side of the dark spot. Tomorrow is the first visit to the obstetrician.
I'm kind of bummed about Halloween since I have so much candy. Bobby's mom bought a ton of candy yesterday morning and told us not to buy any, but she didn't know that we had gotten our candy a week ago. Who buys candy on Halloween. By then all the good stuff is sold.. But anyways, we have way more candy than needed and planned to give out huge handfuls, but we didn't get home until 9:30 and all the kids were going home. Now I've got a year's supply. Free candy anyone?

Bead bracelets

2009-10-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Recent finished projects. I think it's been forever since I beaded something that wasn't pink-themed.
This was fun to make. Its a beaded rope using 2 sizes of seed beads, causing it to spiral, and flowers and leaves mixed in.

Peacock color beads. This one is from the Feb/March 2005 issue of Beadwork.
Pictures don't show very well. My husband and I have discussed getting a good camera now that we have a baby on the way. I've been making due with my crumby cell phone, so a new camera will be nice. I don't think I've ever used a nice camera..

Announcement!!

2009-10-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Big news - I'm going to have a baby! I'm excited!
I've known for a while, but I wanted to delay announcing it to all. I'm now in my 9th week, start of month 3, and will have my first check up next week. Occasionally I'd like to post what I'm feeling/going through.

I first found out on September 27th via home test. I repeated the test on the 28th to make sure I wasn't getting my hopes up. People have told me that I am lucky that the majority of my pregnancy will take place during winter, since pregnant women tend to feel very hot. Doctors have guessed my due date will be around May 31st. That is right at the beginning of summer, and I don't know how I'll do toting a baby/diaper bag/carrier car seat/etc. around with me during the peak of summer. All the more reason to convince my husband to finally buy me an air conditioner for the house! just kidding.

So, let me talk about some of the fun stuff that has happened so far - symptoms!! yay!
First: morning sickness - while I did feel especially nauseous, I didn't actually vomit. I'm glad to say that I haven't vomited very much in my 27 years of life. I was also very dizzy for the first 2 months. At the start of month 3, I haven't had either symptom. When I first suspected I was pregnant (when my cycle was late, around the 23rd of Sept.) I decided to stop all my medications cold turkey. I was taking medication for depression and anxiety, and both cause dizzy/nausea when starting or stopping, so I don't know how much of my symptoms I could contribute to pregnancy versus medicine withdrawals.

Digestive issues/stoppage/etc. Within the first few weeks I was sooo bloated that I looked 4 months pregnant already. They say that no one is gassy like a pregnant woman.. it's true. Constipation also goes hand-in-hand with pregnancy, unfortunately. For the first month and a half, heartburn was also a big opponent. Before, I was taking Prilosec OTC, but it isn't safe to take anymore. The heartburn has cooled down for the most part. Rolaids Chews and chewable fiber tablets are my friends.

Food cravings! Weeks ago, I had a turkey sandwich from the store, but it was so dry, so I put mustard and dill relish on it. I loved the dill relish so much that after I ate the hoagie sandwich, I sat down with a spoon and the jar of dill pickle relish. It was so satisfying. I also feel like I'd rather have plain vanilla ice cream over my other favorite flavors. Especially vanilla soft serve. For my husband's birthday we ate at a Chinese restaurant, and it was good until I had to smell the leftovers in the fridge. Ever time the fridge door opened, I was running away gagging.

Breasts. Yes, I'll talk about my boobies... (ugh) The pain..! It hurts so much! I've never wanted so much to just cut them off. Up until now I have never, ever been sensitive there, in a good or bad way. Now I find myself smacking them against random furniture, or even rubbing on my shirt is enough to send me crying. Almost every morning, my cat Matrix likes to cuddle with me by laying on my tummy (his favorite spot, now that I'm expecting) and when he gets the urge to rub against my face his paws put all of his weight on my nipple. It seems he's not bothered by my screaming out in pain. Recently he found himself flying off the bed.

Other symptoms. Excess saliva - apparently drooling is a symptom of pregnancy. I don't know if I drool when I sleep, but during the day I find that I have more spit than normal.
Sensitive to smell - I smell things so much stronger now. Last night I fried some chicken, and even after cleaning up, I couldn't sleep because I could smell oil and it was making me gag.
Itching - this keeps me up most nights. A mix of hormones and winter are probably to blame. Anti-itch cream don't work. Last night the itching caused me to break into tears of frustration. I think this is the worst thing I'm going through right now..

I also have to pee all the time. And I feel exhausted all the time. I've never been so glad to be jobless. I read that the first and last trimester are the worst, and I've just started the last month of the first trimester. I'm counting down to better days soon.

Right now, baby is about 1 inch long. I've gained 6 lbs so far. I'm not fazed by that since my weight has always fluctuated a lot. I gain and lose so fast, and I've already had stretch marks from weight loss/gain before I even became pregnant. I'm looking forward to becoming round like a hippo! My first doctor's appointment will be Nov. 2nd, five more days! I'll have a battery of tests done. My family is pretty excited, and I'll be getting many phone calls asking how things went.

In other news, my husband and I just celebrated 7 years of marriage! The 26th was our anniversary, we celebrated with very full tummies after eating at a Japanese steakhouse.

Artist Trading Cards

2009-10-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

Recently I was at the craft store buying embroidery floss, and near the checkout was some discarded merchandise. Among them was a pack of canvas paper blank "trading cards". It is for creating your own miniature art pieces to trade with others, called Artist Trading Cards. I had never heard of it before, but it's a neat idea. I bought a pack and have been painting them with kimono patterns. These cards are available for trade if interested, but I don't know how well the "trading market" is doing (??)...

Kimono series, card 1 - "Shibori"
July '09A simple design, made to look like Japanese tie-dye dots called shibori.

Kimono series, card 2 - "Blooms"
July '09
This one uses color pencil and sharpie to draw sakura cherry blossoms.

Kimono series, card 3 - "Sakura"
June '09
Another sakura, on a gradient background.

Kimono series, card 4 - "Low Tide"
September '09
I liked the idea of this one. The background is a soft silver, and with the gold flowers the shine is bright (not seen in the scan, sorry) but unfortunately my pencil made deep indents in the darker gray "waves" so it shows up as scars when viewed at an angle.

Kimono series, card 5 - "Tsunami"
Again, I wish the shine could be seen. I used a purple background and then topped it with the same silver paint. The effect is so glittery. The green lines in the "waves" is also topped with the silvery sheen.

So, those are my first attempts. I hope to get better at fine details. I have the hardest time finding decent fine-tip paint brushes. I'd love any advice people have on how to keep the paint brush tip nice and pointy!

Beading, again

2009-10-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Can you tell I'm trying to make up for lost time? Multi-post day, yay!

Another bead project. This bracelet is made of seed beads and lucite flowers.

The charm of this one is that it looks different depending on the angle. The clasp is the big flower, as a toggle-type closure, utilizing a magnetic clasp.

Beading

2009-10-01T15:57:00.001-07:00

After the emotional blow of getting fired, my sister took me out shopping at her workplace. She works at a bead store, Shipwreck Beads. I had an extremely good time. I indulged in an espresso - something I hadn't had since becoming jobless, and I splurged on beads. Up until that day I was stuck at home crying non-stop, I didn't think I'd 180 emotionally in one day. That shopping day kick-started my dormant creativity and gave me something to be excited about again.
I've made several items since then, but recently I've been on a creative downward slope.. I figured I should post some things, and maybe my creative juices will get going again.
So, here is a bracelet I've made. I used a pattern in a bead magazine, I don't remember which..

It's made of seed beads, the flowers woven in a 3D shape. It's cute and girly, but the clasp is cheap quality and difficult to open and close.

Long time no see

2009-10-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

So, adding to my blogs has taken a backseat recently. Last July I was fired from my job, during a difficult time in which I was already fighting depression and anxiety. The blow was really tough on me, and added a lot to my emotional pains. I regret to say that for the longest time I have been curled up in a ball, hiding in bed, avoiding the world. I'm still recovering, but better than I was. Things are getting better now. Wish me luck in a speedy recovery.

Cupcake Coin Purse - Tutorial!

2009-07-08T08:31:00.001-07:00

I made this coin purse some time ago, and I took pictures as I worked, just in case I decided to do a tutorial. I think it's about time I got to work on that! I hope I remember all the steps.. Feel free to use your imagination and create your own designs!

Materials:
Lining material - I used pink cotton, 2 pieces cut larger than desired size
Zipper - I used an invisa-zip, 3-4 inches
Stuffing
Cupcake base material - I used camel-color felt
Cupcake frosting material - I used pink felt
Multi-color seed beads
2 Brown seed beads and 2 brown bugle beads
Red fabric - just a small scrap
2 inches of small lace
Sewing thread, pink and tan

Draw on a piece of paper the basic shape you want the coin purse to be. Cut it out and use this as your template (not shown). Trace your template onto the lining material (both pieces). Make marks where you would like the ends of the zipper to stop.

Trim the fabric around the crown of the cupcake, leaving 1/4" - 1/2". Attach the zipper to one piece of the lining at a time. Follow the instructions on the zipper package, or make it up as you go, like i did.

Here is what the reverse side of the lining and zipper should look like.

Trim the excess fabric around the outside of the cupcake and sew the two pieces together, up to the ends of the zipper.

Cut out your felt pieces to the same shape and size of your paper template - except for the cupcake base, it should go higher so that you can layer it underneath the frosting. Cut out 2 frostings and 4 bases.

Take 2 of the base pieces and layer them, then using tan thread, sew vertical lines. This will make one thick piece. Repeat with the other 2 base pieces.

Sew colorful seed beads on the frosting pieces to make sprinkles.

For the cherry on top, make a "whipped cream" out of lace. Hand-sew loosely along the inside end of the lace and then pull the thread gently to make it gather into a circle. Secure the thread ends.

Make the cherry out of a small scrap of red fabric. Add a little ball of stuffing, or a cotton ball, and gather the ends of the fabric in the back securely, trimming off excess. For the cherry stem, thread a brown bugle bead, followed by a brown seed bead, another bugle beed, and another seed bead - then double back through the bugle beads and center seed bead - sew it through the top of the cherry and pull it through to the back and pull slightly to create a slight indent near the stem of the cherry. Sew the cherry and whipped cream lace to one piece of the frosting felt.

Sew the cupcake base pieces to the lining using a blanket stitch. Sew the three at the same time. Futuregirl's blog has a very good tutorial on doing a blanket stitch. Use small, inconspicuous stitches in matching tan thread. Sew only the sides and bottom.The next steps are pictured! Sorry! Blanket stitch the frosting pieces to the lining, starting st the zipper. Leave and area open and add a thin layer of stuffing. Blanket stitch it closed where the frosting meets the base, but only sew through the felt layers, not the cotton lining.

Inside view of the pouch. It's puffy and cute, I hope you enjoy!

Needlepoint update

2009-07-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post an update on the needlepoint I'm working on. I'd say it's about 1/4 done now. This passes the time well when I'm stuck at home.

Matrix keeps me company while I work on it. We sit in front of the TV on the couch together.

Needlepoint

2009-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

I've started my first needlepoint this last weekend. I decided to start this after I finished the cross-stitch (see previous post). Here is the progress so far.

I doesn't look like much yet! I'm learning some tricks though, and it passes the time.

The previous cross-stitch - I went on a hunt yesterday to find a cheap frame & mat at thrift stores, but no luck. I can't seem to find one that fits. I really don't want to spend tons of money, so I'll keep looking. I think I tried 8 thrift stores so far, kind of discouraging!

My House

2009-06-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday my in-laws came to my house for dinner. My husband's aunt Mary is visiting from New Jersey, and we wanted to have her over to see our house for the first time. It's only the second time the in-laws have seen the house as well. Normally the house is a huge mess! We live like slobs mostly, so having it this clean is a rare. Only the living areas are clean, the storage rooms (2 spare bedrooms), garage, and man-cave (den) are still a mess. Anyway, I took pictures, so let me show you around!

Here is a picture of the outside of the house. Please excuse the weeds in the driveway. I recently read on the internet that you can sprinkle table salt on weeds that grow in cracks and they'll shrivel up and die. I did this and the weeds grew twice as big as before in one week! I'm guessing this home remedy is false. I also read that vinegar works too. I'll try this, maybe. You can see how unruly the rose bushes are! I forgot to trim them this year.

The entrance way. It's a split level house. The downstairs goes to the man-cave. The garage is accessed down there too, and there is a full bathroom. The bathroom down there is used for Matrix's litterbox, and my husband's friends when they come over and play games in the man-cave. You can see Matrix at the top of the stairs here. He's thinking, "whoa, the door is open!"

Shoes aren't worn in the house. Normally they pile up here. It's a tripping hazard, but I haven't found a shoe caddy that fits in this tiny space. I hate the ugly brown carpet in the house. When we first moved in, it was flea-infested from the previous owner.

Here is the kitchen. It's tiny.

The dining room. Normally the table is used as a catch-all for whatever. It's nice to finally be able to see the surface of the table! Matrix eats in the corner here. This is also where I display a kimono. I switch it out occasionally. Also is a picture of me, some fake bonsai that I made, and other display stuff.

Here's a close-up of the picture displayed with the kimono.

Outside is the new BBQ. It was a nightmare putting together! We put it together the day before the in-laws came over to visit, and we found out we didn't get the screws or instructions. Bobby had to go to Lowes to get replacement parts. We were also told that it included the propane, but it wasn't so, so we had to buy that as well.

Here is the living room. The TV is new. (^_^)v We never use the fireplace. The tiger plushies were won from carnival games. Matrix was frightened of the large tiger, it was so cute! Now it's Matrix's punching bag.

The main hallway leads to the bedrooms. Behind the couch is my doll case. The bonsai on top was also made by me, as well as the camelias hanging on the wall in the center of the picture.

Sorry for the shine from the glass. Bobby got this case for me. These are all my Japanese Barbie dolls. I have most of the good ones so far. The top 2 are New Year's Barbies. The bottom two are geisha Barbies that I made myself.

The rest of the Barbies. The very bottom one is a vintage Barbie, wearing the first true Barbie kimono. Rare and expensive, found for cheap and good condition! I'm such a nerd...

The bedroom. I love the bed spread. I got it at Walmart (lol!). Matrix's bed is on top of the dresser.

One of many sword sets. This is the newest set Bobby won at a tournament. I'd love to display them all, but Matrix loves to chew on things. How pretty my house would be if Matrix didn't chew on things...

The windows in the living room and bedroom are very deep. I can sit on them very comfortably. Matrix loves to sit here and watch the world.

Company Picnic

2009-06-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was my company's picnic. Every Summer the picnic is held at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA. This year's picnic was BBQ ribs and chicken.

The weather was really mild, and seemed to be on the verge of raining. We were lucky and it did not rain.

There were games set up for the children, as well as a playground on the picnic site. A co-worker had brought a homemade game for the adults. I don't know what it was called, but it involved tossing large metal washers into holes, kind of similar to horseshoes. We played this game for hours!

Piñatas were set up for the kids. Sticks were not used, since it is dangerous for a work function. The piñatas were busted open taking turns pulling a string from the bottom. Picking the correct string broke open the bottom and poured out the candy. I had never seen this kind of piñata.

SpongeBob and Transformers.

The wonderful thing about Point Defiance Park is the location next to the ocean and the zoo. The picnic site was right behind the lion holding area, so roars could be heard. The ocean is accessed from a rustic staircase. The beach was rather cold, but there were plenty of hiking trails!

It was a fun weekend!

Cross Stitch

2009-06-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

I finished my first cross stitch last night. I don't remember how long it took, and I only worked on it occasionally. It is a no-count kit, so I only had to focus on stitching in specified areas. I don't know how I feel about that, since the majority of the picture is pre-printed. But, I bought it because I loved the picture.

Here is a picture of the kit I bought: Sachi, by Sunset.

My finished piece:

Close up:

Since it isn't a counted cross stitch, the guide sheet isn't much of a chart. The guide is kind of set up like a paint-by-number. To keep track of where I was, I used markers to mark off finished sections. You can really see how little of the picture is actually stitched vs. what is printed. Yellow is x-stitch, red is outline or other embroidery. The majority of the yellow x-stitch area is the bottom of the skirt, which is unfortunately not pictured.

Now I need to find a frame! After this I'm starting a needlepoint.

Asian inspired garden

2009-06-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Recently I was at Allenmore hospital getting blood work done, and I was impressed by the gardens. The main walkway was lined with rhododendrons, and occasionally the hallways would open up with glass windows or doors revealing a garden. The waiting room I was in has an Asian garden with many statuaries. Here are some pictures I had taken.

Garden pics

2009-06-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Spring is here, and everything is in bloom. I'm not a gardener by any means, but I do have things growing in my yard. Mostly weeds. I have a bunch of giant rose bushes that have apparently been planted by the original owner of my house, 12 years ago. The rose bushes are tall! I am no good at taking care of them, so they tend to grow wildly. Here are some pictures taken today:

Most of the roses bloom pink. All shades of pink. I do get some red primroses. I have one bush that is itty-bitty that just bloomed a red rose, and I have one plant that always blooms a lovely peach color.

I have no idea what this plant is, but I like the flower. The flowers are too heavy and they end up on the pavement. This one is beginning to lean. There is a similar plant that blooms yellow flowers similar to these, but bigger and the leaves are a different shape. I also have a new one that sprouted up this year that seems to be blooming pink versions of this flower. They haven't opened yet, though.

Did I say that I'm good at growing weeds? I have no idea what this is, but I think it's a weed. It sure grows like one... I've trying to cut it (thick stalk!!) and I've trying to kill it, but it's still growing strong. It's much bigger today after a sudden rainfall last night, and this is the wildest it's been, so I decided to snap a picture. If anyone can identify, please let me know!

Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival

2009-04-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday a group of us went up to Seattle to the Cherry Blossom Festival. It is an annual festival to celebrate the blooming of the cherry blossoms and to share Japanese cultural arts.

Before heading out we stopped by a local Tully's coffee bar to get espresso. Yum! This Tully's had a painting of a man on the outside wall of the building. We decided to take funny pictures with the man. Here is Nicole (sister) and Dakota (daughter of sister's boyfriend) posing with the gentleman.
We drove up to Seattle Center where the festival was taking place in the shadow of the space needle. Unfortunately the cherry blossoms had already lost their blooms.. We did wonder the area and watched many events.

There were martial arts demonstrations, singing and dance, tea ceremony, etc. There were also many booths displaying Japanese arts. There were children's activities such as origami, and practicing caligraphy. On display were many art items, including these dolls made of chiyogami paper.

At these kinds of Japanese events there is inevitably a booth in which you can pay to get dressed up in yukata and pose for pictures. I never see these participants skillfully dressed! =.=; I did snap a picture of this group because I was amused by the man dressed as a geisha!

After eating lunch (gyoza!) we wandered more and happened upon a shodo demonstration and display. We participated in a game of "guess the meaning of this ancient kanji!"

Even though the cherry blossoms were no longer blooming, we did spy this cute little garden of giant tullips.

After having our fill of the festival we decided to check out other sites of Seattle. We took the monorail to Westlake center and enjoyed a strawberry crepe and watched street performers tap dance and drum on buckets. We had a good time.

I encourage others to go out and see what festivals and events are available in your area! International festivals, music festivals, or street fairs, they can all be enjoyed and we can learn much about the world around us! Have fun!

Gem Faire

2009-04-17T07:35:00.001-07:00

Easter weekend I went to Gem Faire at the Tacoma Dome. The show was rather small and expensive. I did manage to find something I liked. I bought these dessert shaped enamel charms! They have little crystals on them, very cute! I made this charm bracelet:Matrix, my cat, thought they were delicious. ^_^ I took this pic of him licking a cake charm.

Cupcake Skirt

2009-04-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

I finished my first lolita skirt this weekend. It's a rectangle skirt with a cupcake print. I kept the design simple since this was my first skirt. Forgive the blurry cell phone pictures.

I was originally going to use a thicker lace for the trim but I'm glad I switched to the small lace.

My first casual lolita outfit. I made a pink head bow too, but you can't see it in the photo.

Petticoat finished

2009-04-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

I finished the petticoat! I put it off this long thinking I had approached the hard part of attaching the tulle to the lining/waist, but it was rather easy. And the result is a very full petti! I changed my plans a bit, it's two layers of tulle: the top layer has 3 tiers, the bottom layer is just the bottom two tiers attached to the lining. I knew that if I kept the 2 layers up top it would make it too full at the hips. I still have tons of tulle left over, I may make a less full petticoat sometime down the road. But this was a good project, and so much cheaper than buying one.

Lolita cut-sew

2009-03-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

So I lied apparently about finishing the petticoat soon. I got tired of working with it and moved on to something else to distract me temporarily. I made a Lace cut-sew. (Cut-sew is basically casual tops made of jersey or what-not) Forgive the crumby pictures, my cell phone camera isn't very good, and I have nearly no lighting in my home.I quickly realized that it looks horrible on my clothing form. I'm plus size and the form isn't. I cut up some of my husband's old t-shirts to make it. The front panel has pink ribbon criss-crossing, and there is pink ribbon bows on the sleeves. I'm proud of it as being the second piece of non-doll clothing I've made. And it fits me perfectly! ^_^ The only thing I wish I could of changed was using better quality materials, but at the same time I love recycling old things and making them better.

Lolita Clothes

2009-03-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

So, if the bloomers and the tags/keywords didn't give it away, Gothic Lolita fashion is a hobbie of mine. I say "Gothic Lolita" because that is what people are familar with, but mostly I just like sweet lolita and casual lolita clothing. Of course I'm too cheap to buy outfits myself, so I've set out on an adventure to make them myself.

I've been constantly browsing thrift stores looking for anything that may go with a casual lolita look, or anything that can be altered. I'm not very good at sewing and I don't like to use patterns, so I'm pretty much winging it. The bloomers were the first thing I've made. I've bought a few basic stuff so far for customizing: a pair of shoes, socks and tights, tshirts, a black polka dot square dance skirt, and a baby blue cardigan. Next projects are a cupcake skirt patterned simple skirt, and currently working on a petticoat.

I'm making the petticoat out of tulle, something I've never worked with. I browsed the net to get an idea about making petticoats and the concensus was that it's better to buy one instead of struggle with it. I don't have $30-40 to burn so I opted for the challenging route.

So far the only issue I've had with the tulle was in cutting it evenly. I don't have any special cutting tools or methods to make straight lines easy, I just lay a ruler on top and cut away! I'm sure that makes some seamstess out have heart palpatations, but it's just what I'm used to. I've never cut such loooong pieces before, so it sucked.

For those who are wondering, I bought 6 yards of tulle, elastic, and liner fabric for about $18 at Joann. So far it's way too much fabric. The tulle I folded so that there were 4 layers and cut 3 strips 8 inches wide: one layer is double my waist size, one layer is 3x my waist size, and the last layer is 4x my waist size.

I then seperated the three stacks into six 2 layer thick pieces. Each piece was then sewn into a "ring" by sewing the two shortest ends together.

Next I sewed a gathering stitch along the top line of each ring. I've never done this before so I goofed on the first tier (fixed now). The gathering stitch was done by sewing with the longest stitch length on my machine and with the tension around 1 or 2. If you leave a long tail of thread on each end you can tug them to make the fabric ruffle. My machine seems to put the ruffle in there automatically when I sew the tulle (hurray for less work!) so if anything I just need to loose those gathers.

The gather stitch is normally sewn near the top, but I did mine about 1-1.5 inches down so that I can sew that smaller ruffle on top to the outside to add extra poof to each tier. Currently I am working on pinning each layer to the next. For this I need to try and make the top of the bottom tier the same length as the bottom of the tier above it. I'll photograph the petticoat when it comes together.

Bloomers!

2009-03-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

I've made a few outfits for my doll but have yet to make human clothes until now. I only know the basics of sewing, and I have never used a pattern - those things are confusing! So I'm excited that I've been able to sew something for myself. I want to put together a casual lolita outfit (google casual lolita or Gothic Lolita if you don't know what it is) and am sewing most of it myself. I'm starting from the bottom up, first item I've finished is a pair of bloomers. Bloomers are puffy underpants. How do they look?It was pretty easy to make. I didn't use a pattern, I just looked at pictures of bloomers from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and other lolita brands and figured it out. Very basic, but will be nice under a poofy skirt. I think the next project will be a petticoat or the skirt. I already have a cute cupcake fabric for the skirt. Wish me luck!

More Haruka pics

2009-03-04T07:42:00.001-08:00

I took some pictures around the outside of my workplace yesterday. Here are some good ones:She looks like Bo Peep looking for her sheep.

Asian Ball Joint Doll

2009-03-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

A year or two ago I got my first BJD (ball joint doll). This is a type of doll popular in Asian and with a moderate fan base elsewhere. They are an extremely expensive hobby! I first found out about them accidentally when I saw a cover of Haute Doll magazine on the shelves of a Borders bookstore. They all had that Gothic-Lolita look to them that I was attacted to and I became hooked.

The most common BJS is Super Dollfie by Volks, they have a distinctive "anime-ish" look to them. Other brands vary from extremely life-like to cartoon-like. People discribe my doll as looking "anime". I bought the cheapest brand - a doll by Obitsu, called Haruka - I kept this name for my doll since I always liked the name.

Most BJDs come blank and need to be customized - face painted, glass eyes inserted, you need to buy a wig, etc - when I customized Haruka I wanted to make her distictly Japanese with long black hair and glossy brown eyes. I wanted her clothes to be all traditional Japanese kimono and sweet lolita dresses.

The first outfit I made for Haruka was a furisode kimono.

I found the fabric as clothing at thrift stores. The kimono and under kimono is from Chinese silk robes, the obi is from an Indian top. The bear is from ebay. :-)

A closer view of her face. I don't really think she looks anime-ish - but rather like shes from that movie Dark Crystal. These pictures were taken on my cell phone at work, you can see my Puffy Ami Yumi poster in which they are wearing kimono punk-style - their kimono are the only reason I have the poster! I've made more kimono since this one - mostly yukata. Her first yukata was a lolita yukata - with a short puffy skirt!

One day browsing the thrift and antique stores in my area I saw that many porcelain dolls are similar size in the shoulders, so I thought their pretty dresses may fit my Haruka, so I picked up some cheap broken porcelain dolls from the thrift store that had lovely dresses. Here is the first find:

Poor quality picture, sorry! She's underneath a shelf at my work desk flanked by some Japanese temari balls I've made (I'll share about those later). This only picture I could take on my crumby phone that showed any detail to the pink baby doll dress.

Other than the lolita style yukata, this is the first lolita-ish dress I got. That day I took some pictures outside. Here she is sitting on a grassy hill. In such a short baby doll dress you can really tell how long her legs are.

I tried to get some good pictures of her standing next to a rock, but the lighting wasn't working on my cell phone.

I have some more outfits that I've taken off old broken dolls that look good on her that I have yet to photograph. Last night I worked on altering a very fine dress. I found this one at the Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear show at the Puyallup fair. Its an antique dress for French dolls, I believe it is a reproduction. I saw the bonnet and was reminded of the Japanese sweet lolita look that I'm so drawn to and I had to get it, despite it's expensive price tag. I'm glad I got it! This time she has a curly blonde wig on that I took off a porcelain doll that had shattered. The wig is too big, but the bonnet keeps it on her head.

I'll publish more pictures of other outfits soon. I'll probablly take more pictures of Haruka in this outfit today!

Second custom MLP!

2009-02-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here is the second custom My Little Pony, this time it's a McDonald Happy Meal custom. I kept her original pink hair and body. The eyes needed a total repaint due to damage and the tail got a new two color painting.

A view of the design from the back. This time the design is based on a Japanese festival coat called a hanten (or happi). I found this hanten at Bokunan-do. http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/index.html

The pony's body is semi-translucent, so the flowers look like they float on the pink parts.

A lovely cherry blossom pair!

First custom MLP

2009-02-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

Recently I've finished my first two custom My Little Ponies! I'm new to the "customizing" world, and drawn to the potential of ponies as a canvas for art. I was first drawn to ponies while strolling toy aisles and was pulled in by their general cuteness. I thought that I'd love to repaint them with patterns found on Japanese kimono. I happened to search the internet and discovered that there was a community of hobbiest dedicated to customizing My Little Ponies!

I'm obsessed with kimono, so that is the inspiration for ponies I design and paint. For the time being I have very old supplies: tattered brushes and low quality paints. I'm a fan of "making due with what I've got". All my "bait" (base) ponies are purchased at thrift stores and are of non-collectible quality. No sense in ruining a perfectly good collectable!

Here is the first pony. I tried to dye her a dark blue to match my insperation kimono, but she became rather purple. Her legs are a painted gradient of black to pink, and the cherry blossoms are pink, blue and metallic gold. The hair was my first attempt at rerooting. I bought the hair from custompony.com, and unfortunately the hair arrived tattered. I don't think the hair would have matched well if the body dyed blue like I was trying to do, so it's a lucky mistake!

Here's a look at the backside. I haven't yet decided what to do with the hair.

And a look at the inspiration kimono! I didn't use as much white in my leg gradients since I planned to bring out that color in the hair. I'm satisfied with the results. Let me know what you think. Fellow customizers are free to copy this pony if you like the design. This pony isn't currently ready for sale.

Welcome!

2009-02-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog. This is a place where I will occasionally post crafts and experiences of mine. Expect an eclectic blend of varied interests, mostly with an asian flair. I'll try to keep ya'll updated with crafts and creations of all sorts. Feel free to leave a comment!