Marsh, Marsh and Marshellette

Marsh's birthday came and went last week. And yes, I'm late with my gift. But better late than never right? :D

This is the birthday packette:

1. A super thick burnt orange scarf. A perfect way to stay warm during the cold and rainy winter weeks ahead.
2. Several chocolate bars including Kit Kats, Toblerone and Baron. Marsh loves chocolate, especially dark chocolate (me too!). She confesses to be a chocoholic and has chocolate withdrawal symptoms if she is without chocolate for some hours. I think my gift could last her for at least two days ;D.
3. A Marsh bookmark
4. A chocolette pouch with a felt Marsh and a kiddy Marshellette sewn on the front.

Here's a close up of the chocolette pouch:

This is what Marsh, the felt is saying:
Eeeeekkk! Chocolate is dripping all over face!
And I'm being roasted :(

And Marshellete:
Oh sweet chocolate! Let it drip, let it drop. Yum yum...

Look! One more bar of chocolate hidden in the pouch:

Hopefully Marsh, the birthday girl, loves the birthday packette!

Have a sweet week everyone!

Marking the books

I promised a better picture of BlurbberryMoffin-Wants-to-Be-Poncake, and so voila!

On Friday, I had a photo session on a rusty table at the balcony instead of in the apartment to capture more natural light. The office workers in the nearby building must have thought I was mad as I arranged a plate, pieces of fabric and plushies on the table; all the time snapping away with my mobile phone ;).

I also made bookmarks for friends...

One is a kokeshi doll, which is for a sweet friend whose first name begins with S.

The other bookmark is for a friend, as part of her birthday present. I'm currently assembling a birthday package which I am excited to share as soon as I am done with all the sewing.

It's a partially roasted marshmallow dipped in gooey chocolate :). It's name is Marsh, the nickname my friends and I have for the birthday girl. It has legs and hands, because in the Land of Marshmallows and Chocolate, all marshmallows can prance and dance as well as hug other marshmallows. Marsh is also flushing pink, as the heat from the fire is making it feel a little warm.

That's all for now :).

Hope you're all having a super sweet Saturday!

Books, Illustrations and All Things Cute :)

I love the local library.
Although there are several books which I covet that are unavailable, the library is stocked to the brim with many other super inspiring and lovely books.

I took out Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching and Basic Stitches to help with my attempted journey towards stitching. With an embroidery hoop purchased from Daiso, air soluble pen from a Bernina store and Kyuuto! Embroidery (as inspiration), I think I'm all set to try out some amateur-ish stitching.

I also scoured through the children's section for delightfully illustrated books. Rita and Whatsit caught my eye. The characters are so adorable, and Rita, who is very hot-tempered adds to the adorability factor. Oh, look at how she frowns! :D

Around the World with Mouk from Amazon

However, the book which I wanted to get my sticky hands on was missing - Around the World With Mouk by Marc Boutavant. Originally in French, the English translated version was sitting at the shelf of the university bookstore, looking all attractive and colourful. The illutrations are Gorgeous. But the price made me Gasp, leaving my little struggling/poor student soul breathless.

However, if I had a little cousin/niece/nephew to pamper, I would have promptly paid for it. (Probably keep it with me for a couple of years first before giving it to the child). But since I had none, back on the shelf it went.

1. marini*monteany - Illustration
2. marini*monteany - Illustration
both from Design Festa

Also, I had the pleasure of being introduced to Marini Monteany's gorgeous work via Angela's lovely blog: three buttons. Marini Monteany truly rocks!

Now prepare for the King of all Super-Cutes (until something else cuter comes along... :D):

Dumpling Dynasty Explorer Kit from Wu & Wu

Have you heard of Dumpling Dynasty? It has the cutest things ever - totes, child play kits and pouches. My absolute favourite is the Young Explorer Kit which has vintage-style metal torch, magnifying glass, metal compass, string with knot-guide and notebook and pencil.

Or if you are looking for something more sewing-related, consider this Easy Sew Bunny Kit!

Dumpling Dynasty Bunny Kit from Wu & Wu

Each kit costs USD 18 from Wu & Wu webshop, and the local store I found them was selling them at NZD 45 each *whispers - eeeekkk!*. Again, my poor student soul can hardly take the steep price tag. But it is lovely to see how gifts can be so inspiring, cute and child-practical all at the same time. It makes me feel like assembling my own kit :).

And ohmigoodness! What is this? A cute walking radish and whimsical bambi?

If you are interested, check out Wu & Wu which is based in Chicago, for more Chinese cuteness. And listen to the cute Chinese song they play on the website!

BlurbberryMoffin-Wants-to-Be-Poncake

Hey everyone *waves*. I'm back, and I'm exam-free :). I have no study-related stress piled up on my shoulders. The feeling is absolutely amazing. And tho' the carefree period is destined to be brief, it is nonetheless liberating :).

So I had a Plan. A very good Plan of what I would do after my last paper.
The Plan: To catch up with all the sleep lost in the past two weeks.

But it was not to be. I was pumped up, and wanted to do something.
So, I cleaned every nook and cranny of the apartment during the day, and stayed up late to finish this.

Sorry for the horrible photo. The weather in Auckland has been grey and gloomy, providing little natural light and mucking up all of the photos. I'll take more tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the weather will be good.

She has been named BlurbberryMoffin-Wants-to-Be-Poncake. Yes, she's a moffin wannabe poncake. She was also my obsession during the exams. I have eaten so many of her buddies from the local supermarket that I've temporarily sworn off muffins (which is mighty unusual for me!). Now, all I'm craving for are blueberry pancakes. :D

I've also picked up a couple of books from the local library which I am excited to share! Will do that in a couple of days time :).

Brief Relief

Hello Hello :)

I'm happy to announce that I'm back on broadband speed (yeaaaaa!), and I have two more papers to go before I'm finally done for the semester :). Thank you for your wonderful comments and lovely support from the previous post. You are all *stars*. :)

And while I am still not back to crafting (how I miss sewing something - anything!), I have some yummy crafty-ish goods to share :).

ARANZI ARONZO

1. Aronzo Aranzi says hello from sweet little treat 2
2. Japanese Felt Stuffed Toy Animal And Mascot Book-Aranzi Aronzo from kawaii_fabric_and_paper
3. “Aranzi Aronzo” Cute characters from Japan from 8tokyo.com
4. Aranzi Aronzo! from ^w^ *o* `-´ u_u

1. Favourite fabric from - Anne M.
2. 20081013 classica 004 by librarymook
3. Pink stuff from Aronzo Aranzi from sweet little treat 2
4. aranzi aronzo books from couleurloup

I know that Aranzi Aronzo are "old news", but their creations never cease to be cute, and I just had to blog about them :).

Aranzi Aronzo's website is filled with awesome fabrics, stationery, totes, tableware and other knick knacks. Their craft books, like all other AA's goods above, are very very adorable. In addition to cute characters (Usagi is my fave), they are also filled with awesome humour. I remember giggling every now and then, reading the how-to's in one of their craft books. If I remember correctly, it is Cute Dolls (digging up one year old memory).

Who are Aranzi and Aronzo?
There was a blurb in Cute Dolls about the designers... And the following is the same blurb taken from the website (check this page out. You'll see why later).

Mr. Aranzi has a Mexican father and a Japanese mother. It's been 10 years since he started creative activities in cooperation with Mr. Aronzo. He lives in the U.S.A. and works at a securities firm.
Mr. Aronzo is a Norwegian Vietnamese-Indian. He lives on the street and travels all over the world. His main occupation is playing the tambourine.

I have to honestly say that I can be quite gullible. Or a sucker. Whichever you prefer ;). When I first read that, I was mystified. But it dawned on me that a hobo by the name of Aronzo, surely could design cute plushies and write craft books. And wow, a geek like Aranzi who works at a securities firm can be a super crafty designer! There's hope for me ;).

Oh, I'm such a sucker.

Read this. You'll laugh. I promise.

Anyhoo, my stupidity aside, for more AA goodness, visit their online website. Even if you don't make a purchase, it's a good webbie to gawk at cute stuff. And if you're anything like me, smile at the cuteness of it all.

Chocolates please!

Arnott's Chocolate Tim Tams, originally uploaded by belle and rose.

I don't eat much chocolate (but chocolate cakes - yes! :D ). But chocolates + endorphine are super handy when I need to be cheered up.

With the exams just around the corner, there's a whole lot of cheering up to do. Moreover, my Internet speed has been reduced to that of dial-up, and I am having difficulties assessing photos on Google Reader and websites. And yes, there are even problems with visiting your lovely blogs :(. I still cannot comprehend how I have managed to max out my maximum broadband bytes this month. Technology confounds me ;).

Anyhoo, I won't be back till next week, after I have sat for several papers and when my Internet provider restores my broadband speed :).

Till then, take care and be crafty :)

Chocolates, here I come!

French *Yum* Macarons *Yum*

I am not a fan of brightly colored desserts. I prefer to stick to chocolate; rich & dark colors like blueberry or strawberry; and pastel colors like green tea and yellow cheesecakes.
But I am now so smitten with the bright colors of macarons.

It all started out with lobster and swan's Ladurée macarons (which sells Lilly-in-the-Valley flavored macarons. How quaint is that?)...

1. Untitled by lobster and swan

2. Color my world - Macarons by Ann&Ming

3. Jin Patisserie, assorted macaroons by jleighb

4. Macaroon Stash by sfophoto

I Wanted to make some. And I googled for the recipe. All I got was the common, biscuity macaroons. It turned out that I should have googled "French macarons recipe" (Oh, I can be so thick sometimes!). Anyhoo, I typed in the correct words and Google dished out the websites. Alas, the recipes are too complicated for the simple student-who-dislikes-cooking-and-has-baked-only-thrice-in-her-entire-life.

So for all the wonderful bakers out there, if you do try making some exotic macarons, please tell me! There is David Lebovitz's recipe and one which Emily from Inside the Black Apple tried before. Looks like my new obsession is macarons :)

1. Macarons by ginparis2002
2. Raspberry Macaroons by dilutedmagnetics
3. Untitled by Pinkosha♥ N.String
4. bizu macaron museum by chotda

Maybe I will get my friend who is an awesome baker to make some. I can assign myself with the task of flavor/color + quality control, while she does the grinding, beating and the whipping. Yes, it's fair :).

Happy Sweet Day to all :)

Sun & Rain In Autumn

All seasoned Aucklanders know that a gorgeous sunny autumn (or is it winter now?) morning can be deceiving. It does not mean that it will be sunny throughout the day. There is a 50% chance it will rain and 45% chance that there will be a storm. Even with a sunny morning.

I repeat: The sun is not to be trusted.

So I equip myself well: An umbrella and a scarf usually do the trick. :)

1. New fabric! spotted on polka dot bunny's photostream.
The design is by Alexander Henry, April and May Showers I think. *Too cute*
2. hello note card from you can count on me.
Aww.. The girl is smiling even as fat raindrops drip down on her.
You won't find grumpy me doing that ;)
3. rain girl embroidery from the talented mooseandbear.
4. umbrella from the brilliant mypapercrane.
It seems like she can make a plushie out of everything! :)

1. Cotton/wool patchwork scarves by Me, Elise.
Made from wool, cotton and linen. I want the one on the left!
2. Kokeshi by Plant Coco. Such cute kokeshis.
Since we're on the subject of scarves: shall we get one like Harry's? ;)
3. Amy the Birthday Mushroom {front} by Effunia, sprouted on Nov 2nd. Bah, too cute! :)
4. Green Apple Scarf by Karissa Watts XO. I'm more of a kiwi or orange person,
but who can resist this happy apple? (Even if it has gone a little bad with the worms and all).

Happy first week of June to all of you! :)

Spoonflower sweetness

I'm sure many of you have heard/used Spoonflower before :).

Thanks to this wonderful website, I have enjoyed (and shamefully drooled over) gorgeous fabrics designed by fabulous crafty persons. These are just few of my favorites:

1. fabric by Craft Pudding.
She's amazing - her stamps are always so adorable, and so is this fabric.

2. Riding Hood, by Frizz. Look at the bear whizzing on its scooter!

3. WienerDogs, by juneprints. Balloons + hot dogs = floating doggies

4. Smile Recipe Gadget Case Designs by Smile Recipe.
She sells handmade gadget cases using adorable Japanese fabrics.

And because I *heart* fabrics, I could not resist purchasing this from a local seller:
Like all other fabrics I have purchased, this is also a bargain (I cannot resist bargains!). It's Storybook IV by Windham Fabrics.

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, And they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.

Have a super lovely day everyone!