Happie Tattoo (I'm Back!)

Hi to all the lovely blog readers out there! Sorry for the lack of posting this week. As mentioned previously, the exams are coming and it's getting more difficult to find the time to blog. The great news is that I have finally finished all assignments and tests for the semester. All that is left is the finals, and boy, would I be glad when that is over!

During the week, I was lucky enough to squeeze in the time to find "happy" things (or happies, as I call it) on Flickr. I needed some happiness during those stressful hours, and I am now eager to share the happies with you :).

1. puccho (japanese candy) cupcakes!!!
by hellonaomi. She is sooooo amazing! Every cupcake she bakes and decorates
is sooooooo amazing. These puccho cupcakes are one of my favourites.

2. Postcard - Giggle
by Shinzi Katoh.
You may know me well by now - I *heart* everything zakka and kawaii.
I'm a zakka-kawaii girl, but I own so little of such things (working on it here ;).
Anything Shinzi Katoh screams zakka and kawaii, and makes me go all smiley
inside and the outside.
Coincidentally, I'm always giggling. I think I annoy some people with
the amount of giggling I do. I cannot help it - I think it's a disease!

3. Untitled
by Sandra Juto. These happies sure did put a smile on my face!
How can you not crack the slightest grin, just looking at those adoh-ra-ble expressions?
The 2nd from left, top row softie reminds me of my braces-wearing days!
What's missing is spinach stuck between the two front teeth ;)
One of Sandra's plushie, Mr Beret even has a buttcrack *Lyn rolls on floor laughing*.

4. My creative space
Jenny B's studio is absolutely gorgeous and so inspiring.
I would be so happy in that happie!

Other things in my mind including:

Sew Mama Sew's giveaway: There is a GIGANTIC a giveaway going on. Lots and lots of blogs are offering gorgeous items to blog readers. The list of blog giveaways are on Sew Mama Sew's blog. It started on Wednesday, and so far, I have only joined a handful (all in the blogs which I love, and frequent). Unfortunately, I do not have the time to go through the list, and I am far too exhausted to do so. But I totally encourage you to enter away, if you are up for the challenge! I found several fantastic blogs which I will share with you soon. *Hint: It involves zakka-ness and more happies.

Tattoo: I got a tattoo today!

*silence*

Hehe. I'm kidding! I'm too afraid of the needle to do something like that! Perhaps one day I will get a tiny one, but for now, I shall be very content with the tattoo-like sticker which I got when fundraising for the Heart Child Appeal today. And another happie to add on the list: Having a sweet little boy of around 4, running up to me and tucking a dollar into the bucket (aww...). I helped him stick a "tattoo" on his hand. Which was also basically where I got the idea to have it on my arm ;).

Sticky tattoo

It's time for me to reply to e-mails and comments.
Thanks so much for visiting again!
XX

Golden Books Littlettes

When I was a child, I was showered with hand-me-down Little Golden Books. My mom always said that I pored every inch of each page. It would most certainly explain why they are so worn out and filled with gibberish writings.

I was intringued with how the books are used to make crafty and adorable items upon seeing Pip's (from Meet Me At Mike's) Little Golden Books wallet and handmadelove's repurposed journal. I thought both were brilliant ideas, and I Flickrd for more Little Golden Book Goodness.

1. Golden Book Wallet: from Meet Me at Mike's.
2. My very own Golden books Notebook!: from Dawn Tan,
which I first spotted on her wonderful blog, handmadelove.
A very cute repurposed journal from a very cute Little Golden Book.
3. Santa Decor and/or Puzzle
4. Paper Basket

1. PoMoGalaxy Little Golden Book Bangle
2. From old Little Golden Books
Frame and hang up those yummy pages from beloved books =)
3. Making coasters
4. 100% recycled tins x 2

So motivated by the crafty goodness, I have been hunting for Little Golden Books in thrift stores. Recently, I found one, but it was so worn-out and filled with gibberish writings, that it simply could not be salvaged for crafty purposes. Why do children express their love for a book in such messy ways? ;)

And one last note: Thanks for such sweet comments on the previous post =). I still wonder how I made such great bloggy friends in the space of just a couple of weeks =). You all rock! You know that, don't you?

Flurry Furry Blurry

Hi everyone =). Sorry for the silence earlier this week!
I shall jump right into some crafty news.

First up: I met Jacqui, a local crafty blogger from Hazelnuts. She handed me a bag (ooooo... curious ;D ) which I could not open immediately as I had to run to my next class. It was hard to resist opening the package, but it would be *totally uncool* to bring out a pink bunny in front of my lecture mates. ;)
Oh yes, it's a pink bunny.

Pink bunny from Jacqui

Jacqui's bunny ia sooooo adorable. Jacqui is really talented, as can be seen on Hazelnuts! I am so in love with its tail. I thought it looked French (please don't ask me why! =D), hence the Eiffel Tower. Monsieur Pinko sounds like its name, but does it really look like a boy to you? ;)
I also gave Hazel, Jacqui's adorable daughter, Marie Cherrie, the ice-cream brooch. As it turns out, she is also a pinky-fan, and likes the brooch. Yay! And Jacqui actually asked me whether I sell them =D =D. Double yay!

In other crafty news: Some books that I am coveting:

Meet Me at Mike's by Pip Lincolne,
which is available on Hardie Grant Publications website.
And you can even have a sneak peek here.

Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan, which is available on Amazon.
Check out Sew Darn Cute Flickr pool!
*Oh my - Is the square bear's body fabric "my" fabric?
Yay for mushrooms and Cosmo!!*


I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale, which is available on Amazon.
She posted some sneak peeks on her lovely blog.

Lastly... A little word from me:

I feel guilty, I really do. My lack of posting this week has been eating me up. I knew that I would have little time to post this week. Or next week, or the week after that. =( At the moment, I'm frantically meeting deadlines and preparing for the exams which are coming up in less than a month's time. It goes without saying that I have not been sewing at all this week.

I will continue to post, but will do so less frequently over the next few weeks. Bear with me, and I shall bring you lots of my wonky sewing stories once the storm is over! =)

I have been so swamped with work, and I have turned to the two things that comfort me the most:

Blueberry muffin (yes, I L-U-R-V-E blueberries) and coffee!

What comforts you? =)

Hope you're having a super sweet week!

Man Tou

Remember my Sumo Babies? I made many of these chubby baby-like tubbies during the holidays, and allowed adoption to friends and relatives. Sewing each of them was great fun =).

I made it clear to everyone that I would bring one of them back to Auckland, the one being "Man Tou". Man Tou is named after the Chinese steamed bun which I think is very fat and fluffy =D.

Unfortunately, in the midst of stressful packing and saying my goodbyes, I forgot about my beloved Man Tou.

It is ironic that the night before I left, it said goodbye to my younger sister's soft toys...

Hugs please =)

But as it turned out, those goodbyes were not needed. It did not say goodbye to the person whom will miss it the most.

Me.

Man Tou

Sensing that I was quite sullen (not just from missing that chubby fluffy plushie), my friend insisted that we should treat ourselves. So off we went to Tasca cafe on a sunny afternoon.

I had yummy blueberry and banana pancakes...

Needless to say, I perk up immediately!
How I wish I could reproduce these yummy-ness!

xoxo
Hope you're all having a wonderful end to the week! Pancakes and what-nots =)

Ghosts and Pac-Mans

The test has left me slightly frayed around the corners, and some rest has been declared by little ole' me before I get stuck into the ever-piling assignments.

And in Lyn's English Dictionary, rest equates to some sewing:

Pac-Man and Inky!

While sewing them, I decided to do some "research" on the little ghost. I know plenty about Pac-Man, such as it's yellow, it eats dots and cherries and it gets eaten by the ghosts (yes, that's plenty! =P). But I knew nothing about the little blue ghost.

And truth to be told, the ghosts are much more adorable than yellow Pac-Man. =D

So, here's a little about Inky, the blue ghost:

In the American version of the game, it's personality is that of bashfulness.
Why, I'm bashful too!
In the original Pac-Man (which is the Japanese one), it's name is Aosuke, which literally means "blue guy". Aosuke displays a fickle personality.
Hmmmm... Like undecided on which two dips to buy for my chips? Or standing in front of the bag rack for 10 minutes, contemplating whether to get the *so* chic bag? Oooooo yeah, that's me =D.

Go on, be dotty =)

More Happy Mail =)

It was sold as a pack: The ones on the right are all fat quarters,
the gingham is about a metre and the violet is a half yard.
A decent deal for $11 NZD ($6 USD) =)

I love all of the above fabrics (well, maybe not the violet one), but
I purchased the whole pack because of the fat quarters...
Have I mentioned that I love polks dots? =D

Polka dotted fabrics
Pastel pink and green - my favourite colors. =) =)

And some apples for the healthier fabric junkies =D

Apple fabric

3m of this nutritional goodness for only $9.50 NZD ($5 USD).
Wow-zer!

And to wrap up some fabric goodness,
this is what I am currently coveting for:

Anna Maria Horner
Why is she so awesome?

And also this:

Designer: Unknown

Sunday sees...

* ... Oni-grin making a debut at Lova Revolutionary: Blog =) =)

* ... Me in the university in my geek mode

* ... Me with stitchery/sewing-related books from the library
But what I really want is Helen Dardik's Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty, which the library does not have =(

* ... Me drooling over an on-loan Anna Maria Horner's book and contemplating of buying it.

* ... Me baking cookies


* ... Me studying =(

Sorry, no craft work-related post until after a test on Thursday!
I am, however, expecting some post goodness coming along soon =D.

Mom's Day: A dedication to her =)

Some of you may know that I'm living far far away from my family. I'm currently in Auckland, while my family is in Kuala Lumpur. The whole family used to live here, but due to some family circumstances, my parents and sisters relocated (temporarily!) to Kuala Lumpur, while I continue with my studies here.

So basically, Mom's Day, Dad's Day, family birthdays, my birthday - are all celebrated by my lonesome self here. Well, maybe not my birthday, as my friends are always here for me =).

On this mother's day, I know mom would love this as a gift.

Photo credit: Amazon.

She has been coveting this since goodness-knows-when. She loves looking at pictures and admiring them on display. But because Kitchen Aid mixers are very expensive, she is reluctant to buy one. Maybe when I start working, I will get for her one (Yeah, 3 1/2 years more to go to get those darn Law and Finance degrees! Hang on mom, I'm getting there!).

She bakes the most fabulous cakes, by the way (or so, I think =D). My favourite is her super chocolate mud cake =).

Photo taken during Christmas 08.

She has a mini business where she takes cake orders on a casual basis. She was also the one who put together a mini morning tea for the guests at my cousin's wedding.

Mom whipped up some cupcakes, blueberry cheese tarts,
carrot cakes, mini sandwiches and jellies.

Other gifts I know mom would like:

Le Creuset Enamel-on-Steel Whistling Kettle, Pink
Photo credit: Amazon.

KitchenAid Cook For The Cure Measuring Tool Set, Pink
Photo credit: Amazon

And for myself, I would like..

Fiesta Head Chefs Silicone Measuring Cup, Pink
Photo credit: Amazon

If I could, I would share these Paumes magazines with mom:

Paumes Children's Rooms "London"
Photo credit: Amazon Japan

Paumes Children's Room Paris
Photo credit: Amazon Japan

I think that mom would actually prefer Paris Kitchens or San Francisco Kitchens, than my above selection =P.
*Hearts Paumes*

And... Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there! Sleep in, enjoy the day and craft away! =)

Onigiri and ice cream, anyone?

Yummy! It's sushi time!
I loveeee sushi and Japanese food =D. My favourite is fish curry katsu and sashimi =)
Today, I shall have something different to my ordinary selection - onigiri please!
Yum Yum.

The savoury side to Hush, Sugar Rush
Code named: Oni-grin, the onigiri which grins a lot!
Made of plain rice and nori.

And then, I would finish off the meal with ice-cream! My favourites are Tiramisu and Green Tea. Baskin Robbins, Haagen Dazs, and even Macker's chocolate ice cream sundae will do! And of course, some fresh cherries please.

The sweetest part of Hush, Sugar Rush
Code named: Marie Cherrie, who hails from France!
Her parents named her after the great Marie Curie,
in hopes that she would be part of the wonderful world of Fee-Sycs.
She did not live up to their dreams, and instead, became an ice cream.
Cherry flavoured to appeal the little girls, with a drizzle of peach sauce...

Hug a Postie Today!

I Love getting mails. Probably not so much of bills (golly O.o, they are hiking up the rates everytime I get the bills!). But the gorgeous packages I receive are definitely happy mail!

The Heather Ross fabrics which I won from a giveaway on A La Mode. =) =) They are as lovely as I thought they will be. I got the pink combi, pink dreambikes and the white fishy ones. The individual fishes are named, how cute is that?! I remember having several goldfish when I was young. My sisters, cousins and I merely called them, "The Fat One", "The Slow One", "The Ugly One", and similar names. We constantly argued amongst ourselves for calling the wrong fishes the wrong names. *The Fat One is fat for goodness sakes!*

Anyhoo, Heather (from A La Mode) was so nice to tie the bundle of goodness up, so prettily in a black ribbon, with her biz card. She sells the loveliest things on Etsy (I love love love her rag quilts). And! And! *Here, I cry out excitedly*, Heather included some of the selvages of the fabrics =) =) =). Can you tell how widely I'm smiling now? I'm not sure whether selvages are supposed to form part of fat quarters, but so far, I see little of the selvages on the fat quarters which I have purchased in the past.

Even the selvages of Heather Ross' fabrics are lovely *sigh*.
Perhaps one day I'll get some of Far Far Away as well =). I'm thinking of doing some research on Paypal when the inter-semester break rolls around...

This is one of my favourite prints =). Heather Ross is truly inspiring.
She takes the simple things, events and ideas in the mundane, everyday life,
and turn them into something beyond memorable and adorable =).
Look at the bikini flying in the wind, by the tree!

And then, the postie on bike brought the ribbons which I purchased on Trade Me. The lovely Farbenmix ribbons! I have been eyeing them for months, and I finally decided to buy some after gawking at the ribbons on Flickr.

They are all stuffed in my trusty re-used coffee jar.
I'm thinking of selling some online. Perhaps in a few weeks time...

And finally, a much less interesting (but very important) package from the postie:

This calls for brooches time!

Hush Sugar Rush: The Reveal

Hush Sugar Rush was inspired by the conversation of two girls over a delicious Korean dinner. As I was savouring some katsu curry chicken, and chelsea bun (my friend's nickname) poked around her Korean fried rice, we lamented on how addictive desserts can be. Cheesecakes, donuts (Dunkin Donuts being the only non-supermarket option in Auckland), ice cream, tarts and pies, chocolates, cupcakes... Would you believe me if I were to state that the list is endless?

Then we ventured to the savoury addictions - we both love sushi! We eat, live and breathe Japanese food. Auckland's great at meeting our demands - the city is crawling with Japanese food outlets.

I was so inspired by our conversation, that I decided that when chelsea bun's birthday rolls around, I would sew up some dessert/savoury felty goodness as part of her birthday gift. In the meantime, I am having a sugar rush, both literally and figuratively (I've just eaten the two last chocolate muffins). The project has gone underway, and 1/10 completed. Materials are being awaited and I have been checking the postbox daily (actually, thrice daily) =P. I have been slightly deprived of sleep, as I squeeze in sewing time while preparing for tests. It's worth it =).

Here's the first completed part of Hush, Sugar Rush:

Dough-Berry (yes, that's the donut's name) insisted to have a photoshoot with the muffins I baked on Friday. She was slightly awed by the fact that she could rub flour-shoulders with the other baked goods. And then, while I was snapping away, Dough-Berry twisted her body slightly. Thinking that this was because of the uncomfortable and monotonous position, I let her be. But this photo told me something which I did not spot earlier. Indeed, it is subtle. It made Dough-Berry's sprinkles glow a little more. It made her blush pink through the layer of strawberry drizzle.

It is Love.

It is a Chocolate Affair =).

More than a Mere Peek!

I really do enjoy doing through my collection of felt pieces for Hush, Sugar Rush. Although the colours I have are limited, and I feel the need to run out to get more; I am resisting the temptation as I have already blown too much money this month (why, it is only the third day of the month) on craft materials.

Currently, it is taking some time to finish the project, especially with the work needed to ensure that the little details are *almost* to my satisfaction!

Meet Marie Cherrie, the ice cream...

She has visited some ice-cream hungry children, and even spoke a little to Little Jack Horner. I believe Jack offered a piece of his blueberry pie to Marie.

However, Marie refused the offer politely, for she was a cherry-kind of girl.

Marie is destined to grace the lapel of collars, fronts of tops/tees or bags.

She was little difficult to sew (and cut) for her parts were tiny. There are some things which I would change about her, but at the same time, I think she's pretty cherrie as she is.

What do you think? =)

Hush, Sugar Rush - Baker's Delight

Do you remember the bakers in storybooks?

The ones whom have huge bellies, rosy cheeks, friendly smiles and sunny dispositions? I simply love them! A good storybook should always have one of those adorable bakers! They are the ones who slip a warm, buttery bun to the orphans. Give a great jolly laugh when speaking to the awed children. And have that blustering, bubbling energy as they knead the dough and delight housewives with yummy baked goods.

I would love to have that sunny and friendly disposition all the time. And I shall try by first kneading the dough =).

Muffins baked last night...

Half flopped, half success...

Well, maybe not quite kneading the dough...

Vanilla muffins, with chocolate melts

I'm sure the pictures hint much of what Hush, Sugar Rush is about!

PS: Has anyone else found it frustrating that Flickr is constantly "breaking down"? The homepage takes ages to load, and I find myself just turning away from Flickr because of this. So while I have been deprived of my daily Flickr fix, I have decided to upload photos straight from my computer into my blog (instead of linking it to Flickr), so that pictures here will be available 24/7! =)