It’s Been 7 Years…

That is, seven years since I started blogging.  Today is my blog’s birthday!  Yay!  And I actually remembered it this year! Double yay!

Anyway, in honor of it I created another little video.  It features several photos from the past year.  Look out for your favorites.

Enjoy!

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Catching Up: Celebrate with Cuteness

My birthday was last month, and just like last year, we celebrated with a trip to the cutest place ever.  The Sanrio Store.

Warning: The word “cute” will be used quite a bit in this post for obvious reasons.  Some people may be annoyed by this and therefore should click away right now.

Cute cute, cute cute cute cute cute and cute.  Typing it just because I can.

Anyway, it was a visit to the cutest store around, so naturally I came back with tons of super cute stuff.

I got a set of really cute folders with some characters I’m not familiar with, but since they are fluffy adorable bunnies, why not?  Funny is that when I got them I wasn’t sure if they were folders or some other stationary item.  Either way they would still be handy.

I got this cute Hello Kitty tote bag mostly because it was on clearance and tote bags are super handy to have around.  I prefer my cute items to be both cute and useful.  More practical that way, not to mention more economical.

More useful cute items, a My Melody bento box and a set of Hello Kitty utensils.  Make food cuter and more enjoyable.

And of course this Hello Kitty pencil with a cute little charm on it.  It’s a really nice pencil too with a comfortable grip.  The only problem is that it looks so much like a pen and doesn’t have an eraser too.  Also it didn’t occur to me until after we left that I probably should have gotten a cute eraser to match.

And now the grab bag, my friends got it for me just like last year.  I love grab bags in general, but the ones from Sanrio are fantastic.  Filled with adorably cute items and they are even wrapped in super cute bags.  So what’s inside?

In this one was a Hello Kitty folder, a coil bracelet with a cute Hello Kitty charm, a Hello Kitty finger tip ring, and a set of Jewel Pets “pencil caps”.  At least that’s what I think they are, since I saw similar things in the store that were labeled as that.

I almost bought a pack of them, but I don’t have to now since they came in my grab bag anyway.  I thought they would be handy.  They are an easy and reusable way of making plain pencils cuter.  The finger tip ring is a bit odd though, it would make a great doll-sized bracelet though.

Over all, tons of cute items to enjoy, that is until my next birthday.

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Happy 6th Birthday!!

It's my blog's birthday!  Six years really fly by.  Like in previous years I decided to make a video to commemorate this occasion.  And since I kind of forgot last year, I worked extra hard on this video.  It was a bit of a pain.  I couldn't quite decide what music to use.  And I had trouble embedding it here.  Plus my internet connection kind of stinks, so it took forever to upload the video.  Over 2 hours.  But now all is well and good.  

I now present:

Enjoy!

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Yay! Birthday Time!

That’s right.  Today is my birthday.  Age-wise it wasn’t exactly one I was looking forward to, but a birthday is still something to celebrate no matter what the number.

Technically I already celebrated it last Saturday with my closest friends, the hazards of a week day birthday.  We ate pizza and hung out which is always fun no matter what day it is.  I received several goodies this year, gifts from friends and from myself (it makes the whole aging thing easier).

First is these dice bags.  I have been dragged into the wonderful fanciful world of Dungeons and Dragons by my friends, so these will really come in handy.  They were apparently bought from a vendor at a craft fair, love the MLP print one.  Of course a new dice bag isn’t complete without…

…Dice.  I got to pick them out myself.  I think the colors go nicely with the bags, although that probably isn’t the most important part but it’s still fun.

Moving on, there was only one thing I really wanted to do for my birthday.  A trip to the Sanrio store. It was fantastic, one little bitty store packed with so much cuteness.  Even the plastic shopping bags were cute!

As a gift for myself, I got this Chococat laptop sleeve for my new computer.  Did I mention I got a new computer?  I’ll give more details on that later.  Anyway I needed a case for it and this one was on sale and too cute to resist.

Back view.

My friends got me a grab bag.  This was one of the reasons I wanted to go in the first place.  I can’t resist grab bags.  It’s always fun to see what surprises await, and you get them at a fraction of their normal retail price.  Plus, if you don’t like the contents than you can give them as gifts or even sell them.  It’s a gift the keeps on giving. 

So what was in this bag?

On the right is a set of Keropi stickers with a “sticker book” and the left is a Hello Kitty bobble head and a stretchy bracelet with a thankfully removable Hello Kitty charm.  I say thankfully because I really don’t like the bracelet part.  I don’t care what anyone else says, orange and pink do not go together.  Beyond that, I think I faired very well with this pack.

And one last gift was these birthstone earrings from another store at the mall.  I know my birthday isn’t in June, but I got to pick them out and I just prefer the June stones the October ones. The color is more me. 

So overall it was a good birthday and now there’s more to look forward too.  Halloween! In just 2 more days.  Just wait until you see the costume I made.  Look forward to it.

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Birthdays and Angels

First off, today is my birthday! :)  I’m one year closer to 30. :(  I still get mistaken for a junior high school student. :0



Anyway, I finally finished my new dress.  It was one of those sometime pieces.  “Sometime I’d like to make a white dress.”  I finally did it.

I used some white fabric I got at Goodwill for $1 and three different kinds of lace.  The skirt is tiered, something I have never done and may not try again for a while.  The straps are shirred to make them cute and user-friendly, at least that was the intention.  The elastic helps make them adjustable without being obvious, but I think I made the elastic too loose.  The dress keeps slowly sliding downward when I wear it, I just have to adjust it every 20-30 minutes, could be worse.

You might be wondering why there are a pair of wings in the picture.  That’s the best part.  When paired with the wings, this dress makes a perfect angel costume.  Now I have an adorable costume as well as a pretty dress I can wear the rest of the year.



Next up, a simple gift.  I already mentioned it was my birthday today.  And I may have mentioned a few times before that I have a twin sister.  And it never fails, every year when our birthday comes around I can not seem to figure out what to give her. 

This year is a repeater.  I recall giving her a stretchy headband I made a two years ago (see Done Already?), she obviously loved it since she wears it almost on a daily basis.  So why not make her another one to give her more options? 

For this head band I made a braid with wide ribbon that was long enough to cover the head band.  I glued it on and then glued a single strip of ribbon to the underside.  To finish, I wrapped the tips with more ribbon to hide the raw edges and make them look pretty.  Now I have a classic and pretty head band to give.

Here’s the updated list:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Six down, just one more to go.  And I only have two more days to finish.

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Kitty Blankie and Another One

Been a little busy lately with class and stuff, but I have made at least a couple of things.

First off, some of you may be aware that last Sunday was my cat’s birthday.  Yay!  Midnight is now eight years old.  Is it really a problem?  Well, I have seen bags of cat food in stores formulated for “senior” cats that say “for ages 8 and up”.  They think my cat is a senior.  But she still acts like she’s two!  Anyway, for her birthday I made her a cat sized fleece blanket.  It’s one of those knotted ones.  Pretty easy and she actually likes it.

Next up is this dress, you can tell it’s a dress right?  It’s photos like this that make me really miss my camera.  Yep, still haven’t found it and still using the web cam instead.  Anyway, I’ve had the fabric in my stash since last spring.  For some reason I never got around to making a dress with it until now.  I had trouble deciding what to do with it exactly, in terms of patterns and such.  I finally sat down and started drawing a design.  I put a little extra effort in this one.  I used three different kinds of lace and plenty of ribbon.  In fact a lot of the lace and ribbon was sewn by hand.  Mostly while watching anime videos.  The problems I had with it was making the bodice fit, that’s always the problem. 

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Happy #3

Two good things today.  First, it’s my blog’s birthday.  It’s 3 years old today, yay!  Second, I actually remembered it this time.  Double yay!  Last year I was a few days late and the year before, let’s not think about that. 
Anyway, last year I made a lovely little video to celebrate (see Happy #2).  Since it was so much fun to do, I decided to make one for this year too.  Enjoy

Here’s the updated list:

• Sunflower skirt
• Present
• Video
• Little t-shirt redo
• Pincushions
• Pants redo
• Bear pants
• Hair accessories
• Red skirt
• Wristbands

Three down, seven to go.  Stay tuned Wednesday for the next one.

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Doubled Up

So tomorrow is my brother’s birthday.  Every year this brings the same old problem, what do I make to give him?  I have mostly aimed to make things that are somewhat practical or appeal to his interests, the later being considerably harder to do.

So this year the practical gift is…a wallet keychain.  It is similar to ones I have made in the past.  A simple zippered pouch with a key ring attached to it.  The difference with this one is an extra zippered section.  It is basically like making two of the pouches and connecting them together.  Conjoined pouches.  Simple to do except for the whole zipper thing, will I ever learn to do zippers perfectly?  The fabric is a nice gray pinstripe print.  It’s not too flashy and definitely not hideous.  I had to fight the temptation to add lace and stuff, I don’t think that would go over well.  Anyway, hopefully he will be able to use it.
Here’s the updated list:

• Sunflower skirt
• Present
• Video
• Little t-shirt redo
• Pincushions
• Pants redo
• Bear pants
• Hair accessories
• Red skirt
• Wristbands

Two down, eight to go.  The next one will be loaded Monday, it’s another special one.

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Birthday Again

Well another year has gone by, tomorrow is my birthday.  That yearly event always brings with it a yearly problem.  What do I give my twin sister for our birthday?

This year it’s handkerchiefs.  I do enjoy making them and it’s one of the few things that I can make that she actually likes.  Despite being twins we have very little in common.  Anyway, these are just plain square handkerchiefs made from a small print cotton fabric.  They are intended to actually be used which is why it probably isn’t a problem that I used a one way print.  I not sure but it kind of looks funny to have the flowers on a printed handkerchief facing up.  Hope my sister doesn’t think so too.
Here’s the updated list:

• Bags
• Bracelets
• Barrettes
• Doll pajamas
• Doll makeover
• Wristbands
• Red skirt
• Ears
• Costume
• Handkerchiefs

Ten down and out.  And just in time for the holidays. 

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7 is Old?

Today is Midnight’s birthday.  My dear cat is now 7 years old, the age marked on bags of “senior diet” cat foods.  Well, she doesn’t seem to care so it shouldn’t worry me either.  She’s a healthy, active cat with no problems.
And what every healthy, active cat needs is plenty of toys to keeping her healthy and active.  So I made plenty, not all of them are for her though.  I thought it would be good to have a few extra, maybe to list in my shoppe or give as gifts.  Plus they are fun to make.  They are all made with scraps of fleece and are supposed to be shaped like fish.  It’s not because Midnight eats fish (fish really isn’t very good for cats to have too often anyway since it can lead to steatitis), I think the shape makes it easier to play with for people.  I can easily hold the tail end and wave it around while she aims for the head, and that way my fingers don’t get bitten.  These would be especially useful for kittens since that’s more of a problem in younger cats.  Anyway, Midnight will be having loads of fun today.  Plus for dinner she’s getting one of four different flavors of these pouches I got.  They are turkey and giblets, beef and gravy, tuna with sauce, and chicken.  I still not sure which one to give her.  Which seems more “birthday” appropriate?
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Seven down, four to go.  The next project will be up by Monday.

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Friendly Onigiri

I love living in Arizona, not.  I had to brave the hazards of a high heat advisory and an air quality advisory in order to get this up for you today.  Makes me wish I had a Wi-Fi connection at home.  Anyway, my brother’s birthday is next week.  Every year it’s a major challenge of what to give him.  What do you give the guy who has everything?

Well, if he’s into anime/manga and Japanese culture you give him these.  Onigiri friends.  Aren’t they adorable.  I made them with scraps of fleece and googly eyes.  I truly believe that everything looks cuter with googly eyes adhered to them, and that includes plush food items.  I am tempted to keep one for myself, but I already have enough cute stuff cluttering my drawers and shelves and such.  Time to spread it all around.

Here’s the updated list:

• Needle case
• Mug cozy
• Pants
• Hair accessories
• Brooches
• Necklace
• Other jewelry
• Food
• Top
• Skirt

Eight down, two to go.  Nothing left to do but some clothing projects for class.  Yay!

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Florals and B-day Surprise

Finished a couple from the list, and working like mad to finished the next one.  Ended up staying up till 2am cutting and sewing, probably shouldn’t do that too often.  Anyway, here’s the finished stuff so far.

I made a case for my cell phone a while ago, but that one was just too bulky.  I needed one that was more streamline and still pretty.  For this one, I used two different scraps of fleece to make sort of a sleeve to slide the phone into easily.  Fairly basic, the floral print on the fleece was lovely, only needed some lace around the the top and along the sides to make it perfect.  For some reason it kind of reminds me of a thimble.  Wouldn’t that be cute?  Lacy floral print thimbles.  Something to think about.

Today happens to be my niece’s birthday, she’s seven today.  Despite her mother’s opinions, my niece really loves all those skirts and dresses I’ve been making, so I thought it would be good to make something for her to match.   I used some leftover fabric from the last dress (see Late on the Hearts and Sunshine) to make this cute skirt.  I also made a matching headband, but it was impossible to get a decent photo of it.  She loved them both so much that she wants to wear them for picture day.  All she needs is a cute top to match the skirt.  Hmmm.

Here’s the updated list:

• Case
• Skirt
• Pink Dress
• Cat dress
• Altered t-shirt
• kit
• bunka doll

Two down, five to go.  The rest will be easy.

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It’s Cat Day Again

Today is Midnight’s birthday, yay!  She is now 6 years old, and totally oblivious to it.   I wish cats were more aware of these things, although it does makes surprising them easier.  I started the day with dressing her up and attempting to take her picture.  Not a lot of luck with that, I only got two pictures of her holding still.  This one wasn’t too bad I guess.

 

Here’s the better photo, she is not looking at me at all, but at least you can see the rest of her.  She is wearing a dress I made for her years ago, I forget what it was intended for originally.  It is made from a satin-y material and embellished with little bows.  I made a little wreath for her head, but Midnight hates have things around her ears.  I think she looks really cute in pink and she doesn’t seem to mind the dress at all except in warmer weather.  The rest of the celebrations will include playing with all her favorite toys, snuggling while watching movies, and a very special treat.  I found a coupon for a free Fancy Feast appetizer while clearing out my coupon file. I had completely forgotten about it, so it was great timing to find it a few days before her birthday.  What a lucky kitty.

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Charm and Character

Today is my brother’s birthday, he is younger than me although I look much younger than him.  For the past few years, whenever I gave him a present it was always a CD/DVD holder.  I would decorate them in different ways and last Christmas I made one from scratch.  Will just how many CD holders does one guy really need.  So I decided on something different.

I hadn’t touch the shrink plastic in so long or made my zipper charms in a while for that matter and thought they would be perfect.  I found some images around the internet from some of my brother’s favorite anime and manga series.  I found the image from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya here, Lucky Star here, School Rumble here, and K-On here.  I did have a bit of trouble trying to trace them on to the plastic.  Thankfully pictures on shrink plastic always look great after being shrunk, it hides all the flaws.  They came out pretty good, I might make a few more with other characters.
Here’s the updated list:

• Rosettes
• Doll aprons
• Zipper charms
• Refrigerator
• Heart purse
• Doll
• Kitchen sink
• Cupboards
• Clothes
• Vase
• Dishes
• Curtains

Three down, nine to go.  The next one will be up in a couple of days, no worries there, I have loads of time since my externship ended.  Of course I still have to job search.  :(

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Dino Birthday

Today is my nephew’s birthday, he’s three today and very happy about it.  

For a present, I made him this pillow.  The dinosaur came from one of his old and stained t-shirts.  I cut it out and attached to another t-shirt, which I cut to size.  I used scraps of orange fabric for the edge and cut it with pinking shears to sort of resemble ridges on a dinosaur’s back, at least that was the idea. 

It is a little lumpy, stuffing pillows isn’t one of the things I excel at, but he totally loved it anyway.  He keeps on pointing at the dinosaur and saying “dinosaur!”, he is just so adorable.

Here’s the updated list:

• Pillow
• card bracelet
• charm necklace
• netbook sleeve
• doll swimsuit
• bum bag
• sleep mask
• picture frames
• dress

One down, eight to go.  Up next is more jewelry.

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Birthday Bunny

Yesterday was my niece’s sixth birthday so I made her this hat.  Yes it is a bunny, not a puppy.  I got the idea from this site, mine turned out a little different.  It’s made from a t-shirt decorated with felt scraps, buttons and little bows.  My niece did like it at first, until her mother managed to convince her that it was a “baby” hat, now she won’t wear it because she’s not a baby.  I told her it’s not for babies, but she won’t listen. 
Here’s the updated list:

• bunny hat
• hair clips
• toilet
• curtains
• rug
• sink
• sweater redo
• bathtub

One down, seven to go.  What to tackle next?  Hmm.

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A Little Halloween Help

While spending my time “studying” for class, I stumbled upon this site, Favecrafts.com.  They have a new eBook on Halloween and I just had to let everyone know about it.  Halloween is only a week away, there’s still time for crafting for it.  If not, maybe plan ahead for next year.  Yeah right.  They also have some stuff on Christmas, and it’s definitely not too late for that.

Also before I forget, my birthday is this week, so happy birthday to me.  But I haven’t started on my gift to my sister.  She asked me what I wanted the other day, I didn’t know.  I’ll have to give it a little more thought.  Ah well, happy Halloween.

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Happy Cat day

Today is Midnight’s birthday!  My dear kitty is 5 years old now, not a little baby anymore.  In fact, I think she’s getting close to kitty middle-age.  Scary. 

I usually don’t bother with making birthday presents for her anymore, save that for Christmas.  But she’s getting a very special dinner tonight,  thanks to a free sample from Wal-Mart.  Did you know you can get samples from the website?  They frequently have pet food samples so I check regularly.  Anyway, Midnight is having a happy and healthy birthday and hopefully she’ll have plenty more.

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Thinking of the Seasons

What does Fall mean to you? 

To some it means back to school or campus.  New clothes, supplies and the like. 

It also means cooler weather, which for me means being able to go outside with clothing on and not feel hot. 

There are tons of things to think about when Fall comes.  The ending of Summer vacation and start of new schedules and events, the closeness of holidays like Halloween and all too close to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For me it’s also another year gone by.  My birthday is in October so this time of year I start thinking of what it means to be a year older. 

Have I grown wiser, do I look my age yet, and am I a better person than before?  The age thing never seems to happen (I got mistaken for a high school student again) but I believe I have improved in other areas. 

And I look forward to more growth and improvement as I grow older.  It does seem fitting to be growing a year during a time of new beginnings such as this.  Guess it’s pretty good to be a fall baby.

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.  Check them out, it’s so cool.

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