m o v i n !

B came home safe yesterday morning.

and now we are really busy moving!

moving in to a new place.

it is a juggle with a baby.

and even worse in this heat....

beading how-to - WIRE WORK BASICS #2

next:

WRAPPED LOOP

①repeat simple loop step①~③(if you forgot, refer this post),

but DO NOT cut off the end

②instead wrap the end around the stem wire using two pairs of pliers or one paie of plire and hand - one to hold the loop, the other to wrap the end wire around the stem

wrap it around a few times

then cut off the excess

it looks like this

③put a bead on, and bend the unfinished end at 90° leaving a few mm for wrapping

④repeat wrapped loop step ①~③ to finish the other end

taddaaaaa

⑤if you'd like to continue making links,

just do wrapped loop step ①, and open the loop like below and connect to the ready made loop

finish wrapping

taddaaaaaaaaaaaa :)

congratulations!

now you mastered both simple and wrapped loops!!

you can make yourself a new piece of jewelry, or fix up your broken jewelry :)

beading how-to - WIRE WORK BASICS #1

I had worked at a bead store for a few years,
and I thought it would be nice to share some knowledge and techniques with you!

so, I am going to start with the basics today :)

first of all, these are the basic beading supplies you need for wire work.

left pic: from the most left-designing board(not necessary), beading mat, pliers, and wire(and of course beads!)

right pic: from the left- needle nose, round nose, and flush cutter

for the basic wire work, a lot of people use 24gauge wire.

(the highter the number, the thinner/skinier the wire)

here I used 22g, mid soft craft wire.

it's good to practice with craft wire first, and then move on to sterling silver or gold/fill

so that you don't waste precious metal.

I will start with:

SIMPLE LOOP

①cut the wire in about 3" length with the cutter

as you gain experience, you'll know how much wire you need for that particular bead.

②using the needle nose, bend the wire at 90°

③switch to the round nose, roughly estimate how much wire you need to make a loop

and start 'rolling' the wire towards the 90°-stem

do not over-roll! you want to keep the nice 90° on the bottom of the loop

　

then cut off the excess

(make sure that the end doesn't go flying off! cover with your fingers or cut it under a table)

if it looks like a 'P' shape, you rolled it too far

④put a bead on the stem wire, and repeat ①~③ to finish the other end

tadaaaa

here it is!

now you mastered simple loop :)

looking for a perfect vest

I've been in search of a perfect vest forever.

I don't have any vests in my wardrobe at all when I think about it.

I found this pattern on Fitspatterns.

this looked like the one I always wanted,

-very simple and well fitted.

after I finished it, then put it on,

it didn't fit well on me...

:(

waist was well fitted,

but the bust was just too big...

my body shape is not a glamourous type...

I will probably post this one on my Esty shop,

then try making another one.

maybe alter the design a little bit.

feeling healthy

because my husband B is away for a week, doing an install in Alberta,

I had a list of things I wanted to do while he is gone.

I don't know why, but I get strong motivation to do things while he's not around.

he is not lazy or anything,

but I think it is sometimes easier to get stuff done while you are alone.

one of the things on my list was to get back in a habit of doing Yoga everyday.

it's been months since the last time I stretched.

I pulled out a yoga mat from closet,

and did some yoga for not even a half an hour.

that was all little L can handle playing all by herself.

although it was short, I felt really good :)

when I feel good and healthy,

I also crave for healthy stuff.

- green smoothie -

when we read this book, called Green for Life, a few years ago,

we got way into having green smoothie everyday.

the book was written by a raw foodist, Victoria Boutenko,

(well, the whole family is raw foodists.

and we called them the raw family when we lived in Ashland.)

B is a health freak, so he is still on it almost everyday,

but after a while, my interest faded away...

the truth is, I LOVE cooked food.

just like yoga, I had been out of it for a long time.

but today, after doing yoga,

I was actually craving for it.

so, I made some.

- banana, blueberries, orange, chard, lettuce, celery and yogurt-

sometimes we put nuts and seeds, and cod liver oil.

ahhhh

I feel super healthy today :)

inspired by...

tea bags

post-it love

this youtube clip is so cute :)

Via all things paper

lacey dress

I love these lacey dresses santokivintage has!

especially I LOVE this black one♥

image: santokivintage

cold yumminess

it's hot out...

and I had to do it :)

+

=

braided cuteness

it is a nice day out today :)

it's pretty rare for B to work on Fridays,

but they have this job that needs to be done by next weekend.

so I am at home with little L today.

about a month a go, I got tired of the LONG hair,

and decided to cut it short.

well, shorter - a bit above my chest.

after having long hair for 5 - 6 years,

I had forgotten how easy to take care of short hair.

everything was so much easier - washing, brushing and sleeping!

but, as much as I enjoy having shorter hair,

I also miss having my long hair...

when I had long hair down to my waist,

I used to braid my hair and pinned them up.

today, I found this awesome braid tutorial by Anna Allen.

I didn't know you could still braid the shorter hair!

I had to try it :)

taddaaa

I love it :) :) :)

it's a bit messy,

but hey! it worked :)!

I think this is going to help me with the super hot summer days :)

p.s. have a lovely weekend ♥

animation shorts

last night

I was just remembering a couple of the animation shorts we watched at Ashland Independent Film Festival in 2008.

I totally had a different expectation for animation until I saw these.

one of them was Naked Branches by Will Kim.

it is a gorgeous watercolor animation.

I remember he was asked how many pieces he had to paint,

and it was like 3000 or 5000, some ridiculous numbers of paintings for a not even 5 minute film,

and a lot of them didn't even get used in the final product.

a lot of work!

but sure it is so beautiful - both images and story(and sad).

click here to check out his other films and art!

the other one was Madame Tutli-Putli.

an animation done with puppets.

this movie was very interesting and really intense.

all the animation shorts that were played at the festival were very interesting and well done.

but these two movies are, for some reason, imprinted in my memory very vividly.

fabric scrap

fabric scraps from sewing projects...

I have a problem throwing them out :(
even tiny little pieces that could never turn into something wearable...
I know it's not worth trying to save every single bit of it...
but it seems to me it's wasteful..


today, I tried to use some of them,
and here is the result...

a flower brooch and hairband

bunch of buttons



I definitely need more projects to use up my scraps...
something I can run through them really quickly would be wonderful :)


what do you do with your fabric scraps??

unproductive weekend

{sigh}

very unproductive long weekend...
{sigh}

my husband B had 4 days off for Canada day.

our first plan was to go see his family who lives a few hours away from where we live.

then, he told me we should stay here to deal with a few thing around the house.

but none of those things ended up happening,

and so many unfinished loose ends in our lives...

things like that make me frustrated.

I am a pretty decisive person,

and like to get going with things and move forward!

aggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

oh well,

just a weekend....

only thing I accomplished was fixing up B's bracelet I made him a while ago.

it was on a piece of flexible stringing wire,

but because he leaves in on his wrist, it was not strong enough.

and this was the second time fixing it,I tried something different.

I decided to knot the bracelet on nylon string- literally in between every single bead.

hope this will last for a while.

{sigh}

the winner is...

my first giveaway winner is....
Slanelle!!!

congrats to you and hope you'll like it :)

my apologies to those who didn't win,
but I am planning on doing more of it in the future!

please feel free to suggest any ideas and request items for the next giveaway :)


p.s. happy 4th of July to those live in the States :)

flower pics

I don't really like cut flowers... :(
for me, there is something sad about them.

and I just feel so bad for the flowers,

and feel the sadness/sorrow they may be feeling...

I know their lives are pretty short,

and they may enjoy being admired and appreciated by people.

I admit that it is nice to receive a bouquet of flowers

for anniversaries, birthdays and special occasions.

and I enjoy having flowers in the house, too.

I just don't really know what bugs me about them ...