Thursday, August 20, 2015

Quilts Quilts Quilts!

Amid all this wedding planning (any Asian American brides feel free to contact me so we can vent together how difficult it is to plan an American wedding with parents of traditional Chinese values :( ) I have once again picked up an obscession with quilts. Tara from radandhappy is my biggest inspiration!! I love love everything that she does.. and is 100% inspired by her cozy triangle blanket which I tried but still can't get those points straight :/


Also I came across the April Rhodes Arizona fabric from Art Gallery Fabrics and just had to make a quick lap quilt with two of the prints from the collection.

And finaaaallly.. nearly a decade later I finally made a Harry Potter quilt! All of those who grew up reading Harry Potter understand how deeply rooted the book series is to my heart. Now I can re-read it while cuddling under a great quilt! Pattern purchased here.

My Favorites! Ice Cream and Tea

I realized I missed National Ice Cream Day!! Any excuse to eat ice cream right? I quickly whipped up a cute amigurumi cone in my favorite flavor.. mint chocolate chip!

Also.. I came across this pattern for a mug bag.. which in my opinion is so awesome. Its a portable bag to carry around your favorite cup of tea and tea bags/sugar. I spent an afternoon sewing the bag for a coworker--combining his favorite things.. tea and Star Wars! I had this great extra fabric from JoAnn's that I bought and voila! I switched out the button for velcro instead.. I think it there would be less chance of it breaking open during transport? Anyway I think it came out pretty amazing and want to make one for myself.. with Doctor Who fabric instead of course :)



Wednesday, May 27, 2015

DIY Tulle Skirt

Tulle skirts are in and I decided that for engagement photo session my second outfit change was going to be exactly that. So once again I went to Pinterest and found a super easy tutorial for a circle tulle skirt.. which in my opinion works best because theres no joining seam and you can make it as full as you want! You can find the tutorial here.. I used four layers of tulle because the blush was so light you couldn't really see it. I was lucky, I happened to go to Jo-Ann's when the tulle fabric was 40% off so it was <$2/yard! Score. The hemming is a bit off but you can't exactly tell from the photos. 




I had asked my photographer if it was too much Carrie Bradshaw and her reply was golden. "It's just enough Carrie Bradshaw" She's the best! You can follow her blog here :)

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Stamps!

New crafting projects are always so exciting!!!! So I've been playing around with the idea of making my own stamps.. I have purchased a couple from etsy and have seen some tutorials here and there and finally went to my local art store and got started!

I bought this tool at Blick's Art Supplies and a piece of lino.. just pencil drew an image on a piece of paper and imprinted it and carved away. Of course it's harder to get the fine details but I think if I keep practicing I can get better :)

This stamp I'm hoping to use for my wedding invites :)


I made this for a friend who loves cats. It actually came out pretty cute if you ignore the disconnected whiskers (because I forgot to draw them in initially before I started cutting :/) and the crooked name haha

Monday, February 23, 2015

Olaf & Popcorn

So I've been sick for the past couple of days and what better way to pass the time while marathoning on Netflix from the couch. I finally finally finished a request for Olaf that was a year overdue (sorry Kevin!) It took a long time mostly because I was discouraged. I couldn't figure out how to crochet his head shape. I had redone it once, and by the time I got around to starting it up again there were a couple of patterns (here and here) floating around that I had tried but it came out weird and didn't match the body! They say third time's a charm so I better take my notes now before I forget how I made him haha. 

Since I made Olaf.. this makes me Elsa! Right...? Right?


Also I found some super cute popcorn stitch knit toddler sweaters that I am so so in love with and really want to figure out how to make. Since I don't have any children (yet!) I decided to test the waters a bit with my fur baby!! Heehee. Once I figured out how it worked, it's actually pretty simple and not even too time consuming. I feel that switching stripes and cables take way longer. I got Charlie's dog sweater pattern here.. but I overestimated how wide he was and totally made the sweater too big. He's also not too happy about wearing it either haha but it does look oh so cute on him :)

This is his 'I'm scared please take it off' face. Shelter dogs are really something else haha. 

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Baby Fever & Baby Quilt #4

When your bff is having a baby... you can't help but go a little overboard. And then.. when your bff is having a GIRL.. well you might as well throw the life vest and life boat over too! My bff Linda is due  March 6 and her baby shower was today! I just had to make her all the super cute stuff that Kris has introduced me to the past year haha.

Of course a newborn set with too-cute-for-words florally rose garden knit print with headband and matching leggings and knotted beanie (not pictured) And some white moccasins :)

A newborn knit swaddle blanket and matching headband

I love love love this patten from milliemakes on ravelry and was planning to make myself a couch throw for my sofa (doesn't it look cute there?) Anyhow I crocheted to a baby blanket size measuring about 35"x 40" I am totally in love with everything about this. From the colors to the texture.. but granny squares and I have a love-hate relationship. This blanket took about a week and a half to crochet. 


A close up because I really do love this that much.. haha. 

Annnnd finally of course the infamous baby name quilt. I went with coral colors mostly because that was the baby shower theme and I currently am having a love affair with that color. Sometimes I pick the color scheme based on what backing fabric I want to use and other times I pick the colors ahead of time and fortunately find a patterned fabric that I like. This time it was the latter. Also thanks, Linda, for the eight letter baby name. I wish I could say it made quilting the letters easier blehh. 



Ah! In case you haven't seen the flowers everywhere.. I figured it was fitting since Linda is a florist <3


Auuuugh so excited. Congrats again to Linda & Bock. Can't wait to meet McKenzie ;)





Friday, January 16, 2015

Charlie!

You guys following @charliethedogemoji yet?! Hahaha honestly I'm just doing it to get free chew toys.. which I think only works if you have like more than 10k followers. You know uggs, rainbows and dog chew toys are expensive. When I first brought him home in September.. I also bought a crate since he spent half of his life in one at the shelter (poor thing) and figured he'd be comfortable. I wanted to make a cute cover for the crate and for the past five months it's just been a leftover scrap piece of fabric. Not anymore!!


Before... 

After! 



It's really easy.  Measure the kennel.. and cut and sew six rectangles. The back, top, two sides, and then the last three rectangles for the front. I lined the inside with some navy herringbone fabric (cuz I'm in love with herringbone right now :))

His tongue is out cuz I'm creeping in his kennel and he thinks he's in trouble. 

 I figured Charlie didn't care if I ironed it.. hahaha

 And his name was done with the classic freezer paper and Silhouette combo like so

Annnnd voila! 


Yay Charlie! Happy dance time!


Happy New Year!!!!

New Year means new goals new plans new everything right? Ha! I say that now and you'll see another blog post 6 months later heehee. Sorry to those two people who read this blog.. this post is going to be a dump of all the stuff I've been doing since August..

So first things first. My sweet sweet fur baby.. who has been with me since I was 11, Penny, passed away in July. Of course I swore I didn't need another dog in my life at this time.. and what do you know. One day in September my sister happened to walk by some dogs at a Petsmart weekend rescue and texted me to stop by and take a look at a cute looking dog. I didn't take that dog home.. mostly because he was too big for an apartment but I ended up with this adorable freckled faced thing here. I named him Charlie and he is a year old cattle dog/corgi mix. Full of energy and has chewed up more than enough shoes and odds and ends since he's been with me. Expect lots of posts with him :)

(Also you can follow him on instagram @charliethedogemoji And yes. I am one of those people now hahaha)

My friend Kris.. her kid's quilt is my most popular post to date.. is having another baby! Geez time flies. When is it MY turn?! Anyhow I found a pattern for baby leggings and with some super cute fabric I discovered on Spoonflower.. totally went to work. 

Isn't it so cute? I love the bear and bow ties. 


These knotted beanies are really popular right now... and she asked if I could make her one. Once I found out what they looked like I couldn't just make one! She also didn't want the gender revealed until birth.. so I tried with gender neutral colors and threw in a knotted headband just in case it was a girl. (I seriously was crossing my fingers.. have you seen the cute girls clothes out there?!) 

Also getting a feel for the moccasin rage. They are oh so cute though! Found a great leather store in DTLA where I bought a bunch of scraps for < $1 but boy did I have to search through their leather bin. Great for experimenting though! Found a great pattern here for those of you interested.  Of course Liam was gifted a pair :D


 And.. everyone meet Liam!!! Just a tiny bit sad he isn't a girl but doesn't he look adorable in the knotted beanie and matching blanket? Uh although I think the arrows should have been horizontal and not vertical. Sorry! (Also thanks Kris for letting me put your baby on the internet <3)



In November... I went with my family on a trip to Asia. A cultural experience to say the least with a greater understanding of my own history and background. In a nutshell,  Japan was amazing with bamboo forests, the infamous fish market, many kitkat flavors and gorgeous shrines and temples. 


Taiwan was also great; meeting many relatives from my father's side whom I haven't met before as well as the food. Good grief the food. Night markets and street food galore. 



And China with the World Heritage Sites like the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Ming tombs.. its interesting. Definitely a cultural experience there. 


And then... DECEMBER! I love the holidays. Even more so now that I got engaged! Of course.. he had to do around that time. So typical. Haha.. but I'm not complaining since I've been waiting eight years for this to happen. Yes it has been that long. Like Marshall and Lily <3 OMG let the wedding planning begin. But as you can see it looks like I'm more interested in babies instead.. 
Got this announcement idea from Bride. Not sure where their cup came from but this was an easy peasy sharpie mug DIY :)




And it brings us into January. Happy New Year again! Remember my friend Kris and her second kid Liam? I think I might be just living through her mommy hood and making all the things that I want to make if I were to have kids right now hahaha. (Or practicing so my future kids have perfect blankets and hats heehee) Here's Liam's crochet beanie and matching blanket.. you know since Grayson got one of those. Pattern for blanket here and beanie here.


Here we are.. meeting for the first time! You don't need to see my face it's all about Liam here :)


And of course since Grayson got a quilt too so here's Liam's! I'm keeping with the navy theme here can you tell? Geometric baby quilts are getting popular.. with crosses being super cute and something I've been seeing around lately. Please ignore the crooked quilting. It's been awhile since I've made a quilt so there was a lot of trial and error involved here. Funny how quick it is for you to forget things :/


No pattern.. here's a rough sketch with the numbers done for you if you're like me and way to lazy to do any math. Except... the finished quilt came out 33.5"x41". Apparently I can't measure or sew straight and lost about 2 inches somewhere. Whoops. Unless I did my math wrong. If anyone double checks this please let me know thanks. 


Haha.. can you tell I wanted Kris to have a girl? Wouldn't a peach quilt be oh so cute though.. sorry I think I used "cute" a million times this post.



Anyhow you know me and matching things. Once I saw this plaid elephant fabric I chose for the backing of the quilt I just had to make some matching baby cloth shoes. Isn't the fabric adorable?



And thats all! Five months in a nutshell. tl;dr: I made things. Enjoy the photos.