I love Green Tea :)

Green tea shaved ice from belle and rose

1. matcha souffle ＊ 抹茶スフレ from naoko123

2. matchapraline from jusan

3. Green Tea Ice Cream from Capt. Mouffette

4. Éclairs au thé matcha et histoire de pâte à choux - Matcha Tea Éclairs and Choux Pastry Stories from La tartine gourmande

belle and rose's first award :)

Some time ago, handmade romance gave me an award. Thanks so much :) I am so honoured and excited as this is my first! *Geeky, I know :D*

Me, you and blog-land:

I started reading craft-related blogs early 2008, when my family left Auckland, and what was previously "family time" became "free time". I read and learnt about things that have now become my obsession – sewing, handmades, kawaii, zakka, Shinzi Katoh and much more!
With all that reading and learning, I finally attempted sewing plushies. I started belle and rose soon after. At that time, I had little knowledge of sewing, and had no readers whatsoever. I blogged “just for fun”. And yes, I had fun, and I am still having so much fun!

It's fun because I get to share the things I made with you.

It's fun because I get to share the things I love from other sites with you.
And it's fun because I have a wonderful group of readers who support me by leaving comments, sending e-mails or just by sticking to my blog.

To me, one of the most wonderful things about having a blog is having readers like you. Thanks lovelies :). I truly appreciate it :)

BEAR HUG!

by Zari on Flickr

So here I am, passing on the blog lovin' award to 15 other bloggers. Let me tell you this: It is so DIFFICULT to choose just 15. There are so many amazing crafters + bloggers out there. From my outrageously long list of blogs in Google Reader, I somehow narrowed the list down to this:

Alcy's Hobby Room
Badskirt
Bexs Buttons
Blooming in Japan
Colors City
Hazelnuts
Hello Sandwich
Lovely Little Handmades
Mairuru
Paper-and-String
Melly & Me
Q's So Cute It Hurts
Sweet Tidings
The Dotty One
Zakka Art

Thanks again, and hugs to all!

Words + Pictures in Green

... hosted by the lovely Pip :)

Green is my favourite colour :), and I tried to find something green which I have made. This is it:

A sumo baby in green/yellow suit and a green party hat.
It was supposed made to be a clown, but it now looks more like an after-work party goer who looks a little tipsy :D.

And something even greener:

Albert Park in Spring 08.

Join the Green fun at Meet Me At Mikes! :)

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!

It's raining Dinohs

Hey hey lovelies! :)
I have someone - no, actually, two ones, to introduce to you all :)

I'll let them introduce themselves :D
Two Dinohs?
Hmmm...
How about Dinoh A (the one on the left) and Dinoh B (the one on the right) to avoid confusion?
Both Dinohs agree.

You Bite?!
Dinoh B: Nahhhh.... All Dinohs are super tame :)

And today was raining Dinohs!
In addition to the two brooches above, I got a new Rar Dinoh Tee!

That's all the Dinos for now :)

And before the Dinohs trot off to roam the hills
(or Albert Park up on the street I live. Whichever is nearer),
Dinoh A has something to say to you :)

Happy week to all Dinohs and to you!

PS: The Dinoh brooches are part of an order from Jacqui. I have brooches of a different design which were not as fun to photograph as the dinos. Will post photos of them as soon as I get some decent pictures of them :D.

Happy 4th of July

to all celebrating Independence Day today :)

While I do not celebrate this event, this day is special to me as it is my dad's birthday.

robin/Daddy cool by Wondermilk
4th of July Hot Dog Cupcakes by Ally Cake Designs

As some of you celebrate the night away with friends and family, I am in bed, watching TV and pigging out on junk food - my idea of having a good rest after a busy week :). For the last couple of days, there were many "catch-ups" with friends and leaving the city for the suburbs. I took the opportunity to shop for clothes and crafty supplies during my out-of-the-city excursions. This is part of my loot from Spotlight (where there was a 20% discount storewide):

I bought a bag of buttons, my first ric rac in pastel pink, polka dotted fabric in pink. And not seen here are fabric marker and a big bag of hobby/toy fill (this was a killer to carry to the bus stop and back home).
... and Three Little Pigs from an op-shop :).

I also discovered a section devoted to Japanese books in the library. There was one craft-related book, which is the art of basket-weaving. Gorgeous photos and funky creations made me squeal.

Wishing all of you a super weekend ahead!