belated birthday post

last Wednesday was my 28th birthday.

here goes my belated birthday post.

I tried a new hairdo.

I had tried to do something like this a few times before, but it didn't stay up very well.

so had been wanting to figure out how to make it 'stay'.

 got a hint from Kathleen's recent post, and came up with the way to stay up.

unlike the tutorial, this has no hair band going all around the entire head. 

my husband came home with a bunch of (one of) my favorite flowers.

 it had been way to long since the last time I received flowers from him.

I kept giving him hints for the last five months or so.

and see, this is the result ;)

lastly(but not least, of course!),

I finally came to the realization that birthday isn't really about me.

I came into this world, grew bigger and older so I could stand on my own feet, and am still happy and healthy.

this is all because there are(were) people who loves(ed) me and care(d) about me.

it is a day to thank them all for that and to feel the gratefulness .

 I thank all for being a part of my life.
I am one very lucky girl to have you in my life!

loves!

xo

hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend :)

chelsea vol.1

this afternoon, I received a package from Japan.

 it was from satomi!!

I had been super stoked about it ever since we made a deal.

(well, it was more like an offer from her :) sweet person!)

I throughly enjoyed reading/looking through Chelsea vol.1, the little paper she made about her trip to Prague.

great pictures and writing, which made me feel like I was on this trip withe her.

I especially wish I was really there to eat all those tasty looking yumminess!!

I am a food lover :)

and look at all the souvenir goodies came along with the paper!

I don't think I could use the baby deer tissue, too cute to waste... awe.

hahaha 

thank you, satomi :)!!!

hope you'll get my package soon.

japasese sewing books

yesterday, I and little L(my daughter) had a playdate with other ha-pa(half-Japanese) kids and their moms in the valley.

I had no idea until recently that there were a quite few japanese people living in this valley.

(well,,, yes, you can find japanese people everywhere, that's true!)

one of the mothers kindly lent me some of her japanese sewing/pattern books.

(thank you!)

this one on dresses is awesome!

they all are so very lovely and look comfortable to wear.

it's so attempting to try them all!

these books on kids clothes are also very cute.

I don't even know why I borrowed these,,, obviously they are still way too big for little L.

but for sure I have to copy some of the patterns for when she is bigger(in 8yrs or something!).

look at the trench coat and the sailor pants on the covers!

I want those!!

a dress for my bestfriend

I got an order on a dress from my BESTEST friend, Mika, about 2 months ago.

I can't believe how long it took me to finish it...

a bit embarrassing, almost.

I've never worked on a custom order (for clothes) before.

it was a definitely an experience,

especially I couldn't take specific measurements, nor could I check it fits nicely on her...

but today I received an e-mail from her saying she got the dress and she is happy with it!

it was nerve racking, but well worth it.

she is happy with the dress, that is the most important thing!

so, here is the finished product!

I used Danielle pattern from Burda Style.

I changed the sleeves into tent sleeves.

I refered to the how-to on Burda Style,

but ended up with too much volume...

so I made little adjustments here and there.

the back didn't line up properly...

well, I should have checked, but it was too late(too much work) to fix it.

so I got a hint from this dress Satomi made.

hide it with a bow!!

how clever :)

the bow is attached by snap buttons.

meet our friend, Tad!

last Saturday, we went to see our friend, Tad, playing at a local coffee shop.

it had been a while since the last time he did his own gig,

but it was a nice cozy setting and little L sure enjoyed him playing music! (so did we, of course!)

anyhow, here is a little clip from the show for you :)

you can also hear little L 'talking' in the background.

and the reason why it's wiggling so much is because little L was dancing right beside me while Tad was playing :)

*sorry about the poor quality of the image and sound*

please go check out his myspace,

and you can listen to one of his songs newly recorded in Vancouver.

he also plays in a bluegrass band, Skagway.

you can listen to a few tunes on their MySpace, too :)

longing to go to...

Scotland

aren't these pictures beautiful?

my friend who lives in Scotland e-mailed them to me yesterday.

he says these are taken around his village!

ever since I met him 5 years ago, I've been wanting to go visit Scotland.

I feel I have a connection with Scotland.

maybe, I was a Scottish person in a past life time or something.

many beautiful places I'd love to go explore,

but definitely Scotland is on the top of my list!

What places are on your list??

PRIZE on Facebook

I was so excited to find out

my friend and the owner of PRIZE, Jennifer, started a business page on Facebook!

be sure to click on the icon above and go check it out.

and become a fan :)!

having too much fun!

I've been slaking on blogging.
I know... :(
but I am on vacation and I've been having too much fun!


now, we are in Ashland, staying at our friends'.
it feels really nice to be back.
I like the 'energy' here.
but also feels a bit weired 'visiting' a place we used to live.
-a mix between feeling 'homesick' and nostalgic-
and it doesn't feel like it's been such a long time since we moved away either.


it's also been so wonderful reconnecting with friends.
some moved away, but a lot of our good friends are still here.

little L finally got to meet her baby friends, Etta and Rowan,
and they had a blast playing together the other day :)
it was really cute.
wouldn't that be so cute to see how these kids grow together?



ahhhh,
I am already missing living here... :(
and don't feel like going back to current 'home'...

late birthday gifts

it was almost a month ago...

while my camera was dead,
a package came in the mail.

it was from our good friends from Ashland.
birthday gifts for both I and B, my husband!
how sweet :)
(both of our birthdays are close together.
and yes! we both are tauruses!)

when I opened the package,
there was a little printed patch for B,
and a happy birthday card.

then, I noticed something was missing!
MY GIFT???!!!
it was supposed to be a yard of pretty fabric as she told me ahead of time...
but it wasn't there...

the only thing I could think of was someone,

who probably works in the mail business (sorry if you work in the business!),

took it out of the envelope because it was sealed, but not taped.

how cruel is that?!
I mean, it was my birthday gift... :( :( :(

I told her about the sad incident...



and a few weeks later,
here comes another parcel in the mail!
she sent me a new one!
and this time it was in a cardboard box and the fabric was even wrapped in a pretty tissue!!

aw
she is so sweet...

there was also a 6 month birthday gift for my daughter - a bib she made :)

she has a baby girl who is just two months older than my daughter.
and she is also a printmaker.
be sure to check out her website!!!



P.S. yes, the giveaway is still coming!
I haven't forgotten about it! it's just around the corner :)

unexpected award

I received this lovely award via Akazukin!

I was not expecting anything like this for my blog since it is pretty much for my own complacency!

But yes, it is awesome!

Thank you, Akazukin :)

So, here are the rules:
1)Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2)Pass the award on to 5 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

My awardees are:

sew I do - Very Purple Person: full of sewn items & love to her family :)

Little Sweet Hearts - Karencilla: lovely blog. very fun to read :)

Chelsea Blog - Satomi: I love seeing what she creates! sorry if you don't read Japanese, but check out her photos :)

CREATE - Leigh: I am a big fan of her wonderful art work!

Boubou Teatime - Boubou: She makes inspiring collages :)

hope you enjoy these blogs too :) :) :)

in the sweet little box

when I got home from the long flight and ferry ride back home from Japan,

I found this little box sitting on a dining table.

It was from my friend Jennifer.

She is a good friend of mine from Ashland.

She owns a cutest store there, called PRIZE.

I love love LOVE that store!

She has such a great taste in everything!!

The store is stocked with a bunch of goodies, like candies from all over the world and fancy jewelry.

She is in love with France, especially Paris, and Japan, so there are so many goodies from those places.

I also worked there for a while when I lived there.

We were to move to Canada, so I had to quit the job...

I loved working there and didn't want to leave.

It was very sad to say good bye to the store and Jennifer & her mother, Olive :(

I MISS MISS MISS THEM SO MUCH!

Okay, get back to what was in the box...

There were little gifts to my daughter!

a cute blanket, kitty booties, and candies!

This little box reminded me a lot about of the sweet memories of working in the store.

It made me miss Ashland even more....

You should most definitely visit this store if you have a chance to go to Ashland!

etsy fromt page

Apparently, the Treasury that my 'Minty Summer' top was listed on made it to the front page of Etsy a few days ago!

I had no idea!

But a craft pal of mine sent me a message congratulating me on Etsy.

She also has her own Etsy shop, Free Flight Clothing.

Her store is full of cute screen printed clothes!

So, be sure to go check out her Etsy store!!

'goes down easy' treasury

My 'Minty Summer' top is in 'goes down easy...' treasury by inbloomdesigns!

It is very encouraging to know that my creations catch some people's eye :)