enchante!

this is a simply lovely commercial! all the pastels and the enchanting child-like world; balloons, flowers, sweets. if paris was really like this for everyone i would be on a plane tomorrow.

decadent brownies

oh yeah, try adding orange zest to dark chocolate chewy brownies along with a pinch of vietnamese cinnamon. yummy yumminess!

a sketchbook of my very own

when you say "artist", your brain sees "sketchbook". or at least it should. well, anyway, i have always had a difficult time keeping sketchbooks. the idea of applying pencil to such clean pristine snowy white pages freaks me out. what if i mess up? am i stuck with a permanent reminder of something ugly? this is suppose to be an inspiration and idea book. and i know that at times you get really good ideas from something that could be classified as a "mistake". but come on. really?
a long time ago in my student days i purchased a mini portfolio for postcards. it has been occupying a space on my bookshelf for um, let's see, 5 years? yeah. one day while chopping up scrap paper to keep on hand for idea noting, i had a brain storm. what if i made a sketchbook but kept the pages loose? that way if i draw something i hate, i can simply throw it away without destroying the spine of my precious book. also there's something unethical to me about ripping pages out of books. ouch, it hurts my literary soul.

getting back to the mini portfolio comment, from this i drew great inspiration (i.e. i copied my general idea from). so dusting off my bookbinding skills, i set out to create my sketchbook. i am in absolute love with natural undyed linen. all those varying shifts in value, that texture, the smell! i need to get more of this stuff. then chose a lovely green paper that reminds me of weeping willow trees. then to keep it all nice and tidy, a lovely blue edged elastic detailed with a bone button from my ever-growing collection. et voila! my sketchbook!

wigs are fun

awhile ago i had purchased a bag of dyed wool wefts at my local knitting store. at the time i had a half-formed idea of using them for a doll wig, but eh, i never got around to it.
while going through the plethora of stuff in my newly cleaned closet i came across the baggie and put it to the side. well, the time came to use some of those brilliantly dyed pieces, and scrounging around till i found a nylon stocking, use them i did. pulling, stitching, and forming as i went this weft of wool became hair. it's reminiscent of a finger wave styled 'do from the twenties; and i especially like the random green section.

dolly couture

i was going through my narae's wardrobe last night and wanted to change her outfit. one of the few (two) items that i bought rather than made is a white 3/4 sleeve top. it doesn't really go with anything else, as the majority of pieces are super girly. so i decided to make a bottom to go with it.
at first i really wanted to make shorts that are ballooned, but i struggled with them for too long. taking a look at what fabric bits were available from my left over shirt project, i thought about doing a high-waisted skirt; something that was gathered. i created a circle and then started to sew a ruffled edge to it, then sewed on a waistband and connected it to a back. it came out rather well and only took a few hours from conception to hand sewing.
the outfit ends up looking mature, and somewhat funky business-like.