The Maries

Do you remember Marie Cherrie?

The original Marie Cherrie is a brooch which I made 2 months back, and it was gifted to Hazel, Jacqui's adorable daughter.

Jacqui requested for more Marie Cherries as party favours for Hazel's upcoming party (a flattering request as Jacqui is an awesome crafter). Hence, the circle of Marie Cherries is formed :). These are for the girls, and the two Dinohs seen in the earlier post are for the boys.

The brooches were the focus of my attention for the last week. Completing this order taught me many things, mainly:

• I have to stop thinking that I am Superman (tucks red cape away in wardrobe). Grossly underestimating the time that should take in completing the brooches is not cool.
• Secondly, having a custom order is stressful. Jacqui was very nice in letting me do my "own thing" (so long they are ice creams and dinosaurs), but there is always the fear that the trust is misplaced.

Anyhoo, the order is now officially complete and was passed to Jacqui earlier this morning :). My first time selling my handmades! Hooray!
I have attempted to sell some of my stuff before. I started a Trade Me account (very similar to ebay, but TM is NZ based) a couple of weeks ago to sell the mounting handmades in my apartment. But more importantly, I needed the money to buy supplies. However, the response has been so terribly disappointing. I guess part of the reason lies in the fact that TM is mostly devoted to selling cheap, second-hand goods. Also, I think the word "handmade" scares most TM surfers off :(
I'm contemplating selling on Etsy, but taking a step towards this unknown is scary. Bleh.

Anyhoo, do visit Jacqui's lovely blog. She has a super tutorial on an adorable felt bunny that you may like to make! It has such an adorable tail, and really, who can resist adorable bunny tails? :)

Wishing you a super sunny and lovely day!

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!

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 :).

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 :)

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...

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! =)

Pancakes and Sifus - A Second Peek

I had cravings for pancakes lately, and so woke up really early today (my kind of early =P) to whip up some! They were such a flop! They did not rise fully, and were somewhat un-pancake looking. Nonetheless, I enjoyed dipping the "pancakes" into strawberry jam. Strawberry jam saves everything!

Hush, Sugar Rush sneak peek:

Coming from a Chinese ethnicity background, I grew up with some knowledge of Chinese stories/fairy tales. But I have to admit that my childhood books held little of those. My favourite books had always been Western-derived tales such as Alice in Wonderland and Red Riding Hood, two of which still remains my favourite today.

The student showing respect...

It is most probably due to the fact that I cannot read or write in Chinese. And most great books are written in the author's original language anyway. But when I have the opportunity to grab an English-translated Chinese storybook, I will take it. =)

...to his sifu

Hush, Sugar Rush - The Project

Time has always been so constrained. Opportunities to craft are scarce. These are to be blamed: Study and university! Currently, I am looking forward to the June/July holidays to fit in lots of intense crafting. But I am so eager to get on with at least one project now, and to keep this blog going with some crafty goodness.

My idea?
Project "Hush, Sugar Rush".

I love the idea behind this project, 'though it is still slightly sketchy. I have already started on it, and I have included a tiny sneak peek below! I promise to reveal everything, and the purpose behind this project as the weeks go by. Sneak peeks will be included!

Hush, Sugar Rush should be part of a birthday gift in Sept, which gives me plenty of time to finish it, in between studies and all. And I used "should be", as I am considering another option in parting with Hush, Sugar Rush once completed. An option which is more of a dreamy hope than anything else. And hopefully, a dream which will be (and can be!) realised soon. =)

I am so excited, and I hope you are too =).