Home again

We have returned from a great trip to Tokyo. I have several photos to share, but I need to get some things taken care of around the house first. In the meantime, here are two photos I managed to download. They happen to be photos of my (now) favorite place to shop for fabric…

And, more specifically, my favorite store and fruit…

Photos of the loot to come soon!

Grrrr! I still can’t get the formatting right on this thing. What in the world am I doing wrong?

We’re going to Japan…probably

Rod is scheduled to go to Japan for work in May and I’m trying my best to tag along. It looks like things will all work out, but I’m trying not to get too excited. It’s not working very well. I keep thinking about all the amazing things there are to see and do in Tokyo. And the food. And the fabric. That’s where I lose control of my excitement level.

I’m the kind of traveler who likes to have things planned before I go. I like to know which sites I’m going to see and where everything is before I get there. I might not stick to that plan once I get to my destination, but I like to have as much research done as I can before I get there. I think that helps me manage my excitement – I feel like I’m doing something before the trip even begins. Is anyone else like this or am I just weird?

I’m getting concerned, though, because I’m having trouble finding shopping information for fabric/sewing type stores. Have any of you been to Tokyo? Any thoughts on must-see sites/stores/restaurants? I’ll most likely be on my own for a good bit of the trip, since Rod will be working and all, so I’ll be looking for all kinds of things to keep myself occupied.

I’m off to read more guidebooks….

It’s in the bag

I started sewing because I love bags. It was getting to be an expensive love and I had seen a lot of them that I thought “I can make that,” so I gave it a shot. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it might be, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I still have a lot of fun making them and I’m trying to branch out into other areas of sewing, too. In the meantime, though, here are some photos of recent bags that I’ve made.

This one is a pencil case for the new pens that Rod bought me. You can see that it is clearly labeled as “mama’s stuff,” but I don’t know how far that will get me. Maybe I should have labeled it as medicine or avocados if I really wanted Alex to keep his hands out of it.

The next one is the Moopy Bunny bag. I used the Mini-Moopy Bunny pattern from Carly at Moopy & Me, though I can’t find a link to it anymore. I downloaded it several months ago, so she may have taken it down now. For the bag, I made a flat bunny and stitched him onto a basic lined bag. I also added some grass for him to munch on and a nice pink flower in his hand.

The last one is a preschooler-sized bag I made for Alex. The mouse is made from a freezer paper stencil with a stencil pattern from the freebies at Ottobre (LOVE that magazine!) and his clothes are fabric. The talking bubble is also made with a freezer paper stencil.

There are a few more bags laying around the house that I need to take some photos of. Obviously, I need to try a new location or a different time of day to avoid those nasty shadows…

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Do they come any better than this?

Look at what my amazingly generous husband brought back for me from his trip to San Jose! He picked out the most adorable books and picked up some of my other favorite things – pens and notebooks! That green notebook says “Notebooks for pretty girls. All tiny things are pretty.” So cute!

The books have some incredible projects in them and I just need to figure out which one to try first. Hmmm…maybe I’ll take one of those notebooks and pens and make a list. I’ll post some photos of the insides of the books in the gallery just as soon as I can figure out how to make the photos look halfway decent.

The weather here has been great. It was 85 degrees today with very little humidity. Usually when we see temperatures that high, they come with 90% percent humidity and make you want to hide in a freezer somewhere. Today, though, we were able to get out and enjoy it. Rod, Alex, and I went on a photo safari to Big Spring Park. I made a list for each of us of the things we needed to “shoot” – animal, tree, building, flower, etc. We had a great time. The results are posted in the Expedition gallery, if you’re interested.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Crafty adventures to come!

I know I haven’t posted anything very crafty lately, but I’m working on that. It’s Spring Break around here, so Alex has been home all day, but his saintly grandparents have taken him for a couple of days so I can have some time to get the house ready to move craft.

I also hope to be able to show you the surprises my wonderful husband is bringing back from his trip to San Jose. I’m not sure how he managed to find the Kinokuniya bookstore there, but he said it was very nice and that he even found some books for himself. (Okay, maybe he found it because I gave him the address. With directions from his conference center to their front door. Maybe.)

In something completely unrelated, what in the world is going on with American Idol? Sanjaya seems like a wonderful kid, but why is he still there? I feel bad for him because sometimes it seems like he just wants to go home. He knows he’s not the best and he has to know what people are saying. Just let the poor kid go home…

Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! It is a happy day around here because Alex was finally well enough to return to school today. He was still feeling pretty bad last night and I didn’t think it was looking good for today, but the miracle of sleep seemed to make it all better.

Unfortunately, since he was down and out for the last four days or so, there were many Valentines to be signed before school this morning. The plan had been to sign 5 of them each day for four days so he didn’t get too bored with the activity. When you’re three years old, writing your name can take considerable effort. He was a trooper, though, and we got through them all.

I also managed to finish the gifts for his teachers last night, so that was one less thing to worry about this morning. These were completely inspired by Stephanie at little birds handmade, so a big thanks goes out to her! They were quick to make, a great way to use up some of my fabric stash, and a lot of fun. I hope everyone enjoys them.

We don’t have any big plans for the evening, but maybe some takeout can be arranged. There’s a great delivery-only restaurant around here that will bring grilled steak, burgers, or chicken right to your front door. Their baked potatoes are awesome, too. Wow, I’m hungry. I think blogging about food is nearly as bad as grocery shopping when you’re hungry….

Valentine’s Day Work-in-Progress

It seems that I got a bit ambitious this year with the Valentine’s Day gifts.  I wanted to make something small and easy for Alex’s teachers and some family and friends.  Here it is a couple days before the holiday and they aren’t ready to be sent out yet.  I don’t want to ruin the surprise for anyone who might be getting some in the mail, but here’s a photo of WIP.

Alex is home sick from school, so I’m not sure how much more work I’ll be able to get done today.  At least three of them have to be ready for Wednesday, though, so I know I’ll get those done.  The others will just have to be late gifts, I guess.

New Camera!

I guess Rod *does* read this because I got my Valentine’s Day present a few days early.  It’s that new camera I wanted!  It’s a Canon SD600 and it is awesome.  Really.  It takes great quality photos and is smaller than my cell phone.  All three of us have spent the weekend playing around with it and we all like it.  I think Alex has taken more photos with it than I have.

Naturally, I needed to make a new case for it.  That turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be because the case had to be so small.  When I tried to sew the lining to the outside, it wouldn’t fit around even the reduced arm thing of my machine.  I ended up scrunching it under there (with Rod’s help), so it doesn’t look as neat and clean as I usually like, but that’s just how it had to be this time around.

I used Amy Butler fabric from some charm packs I bought last year.  I have a real problem with hoarding fabric and I’m actively trying to use up stuff I already have before I buy more.  I don’t always succeed, but I am trying.  Anyway…I used fusible fleece on both the outside and the lining for extra protection.  It turned out to be pretty snug, but I think I like that better.  There isn’t room in this one for the charger or the USB cable, but this was meant to be the one I use for my purse.  The camera is so small that there really isn’t a good reason not to carry it with me.  Don’t let my photography skills reflect poorly on the camera.  I clearly need some practice.

Gimme Your Stuff!

I have a list of sites that I try to visit on a daily basis. Most of them are craft related, but not all of them are. I’ll try to put together a list soon and get it up here so those of you who care (both of you) can see what I’m reading.

I was exploring one of the sites yesterday and ran across a link for Gimme Your Stuff. (Okay, I can’t remember how to link anything here, but I’ll fix it later. The site is http://gimmeyourstuff.blogspot.com) This site links people from different countries who want to swap cool stuff from where they live. How awesome is that? It’s like having that international pen pal when you were in third grade, but one hundred times better because you both get cool stuff in the mail!
You’re supposed to post what you can send, so here’s my best shot:

fabric, sewing notions, books, magazines, candy, children’s toys/clothes/books/games, music, and whatever else you might want from the States. Seriously, I enjoy a good shopping hunt, so tell me what you’re interested in and I’ll do my best to find it!

In return, I’d love to get anything you want to send. I love fabrics, particularly Japanese-type fabrics. Actually, now that I’m writing all of this out, I’d love to get some cotton/linen blend fabric. Why is that so hard to find here in the States? Also, I have an unnatural love of pens and paper. The finer the point of the pen, the happier it makes me. I guess that extends to books and magazines, too. Japanese craft books and magazines make me smile for days, and anything German is wonderful, too. I studied German for 8 years so I love to get my hands on anything written auf Deutsch. Food is always good, too – chocolate, candy, or anything unique to your country or region.

Additionally, or separately, I have a three year old son. If anyone else out there has children and wants to do a swap with the kids, I think that could be great fun, too! Alex could swap books, games, toys, stickers, and, of course, candy. He would be happy to receive anything – as long as it comes in the mailbox!

EDIT:  I’ve received a lot of swap requests and I’m trying to sort through them as quickly as I can.  Postage has become a limiting factor in the number of swaps I can do right now, though.  If, however, anyone is interested in a flat and lightweight swap (like fabric or magazines), that shouldn’t be a problem.  I think the postage is a lot less expensive on flat packages.  Thanks!