Bear Craze

Recently, I've noticed that there're a lot teddy bear wherever I go. Some are lovely, some are cuddly and some, seem cranky. The little yellow label of Steiff has always caught my eyes. This German company has been making bears since 1902. I can't tell a better story than the ones under The House of Steiff in its website. I really admire their appreciation of craftsmanship and quality, no wonder they crafted some of the best bears in the world.

Happy Monday!

Yoshimoto Nara in Juxtapoz

Yoshimoto Nara's artwork is on the cover of Juxtapoz Magazine! It can't be more appealing for me. They did an decently detail interview with him in the current issue while he is getting ready for the upcoming show at Reykjavik Art Museum in Iceland.*photo from Juxtapoz*

Happy Saturday!

Something about the Pooch

Hi, I'm the one and only pooch in the house. My official name is Puchi but you can call me Puchista, ChiChi, Chipu. I'm almost eight months old now. There're something I thought you might want to know about me.

1. I talk like a baby and I'm usually very quiet and rarely bark
2. I love sleeping and sometimes I wake up from my dream
3. I love to be clean so I try to skip over the dirty stuff after potty every time
4. I sometimes roll over to show off my cuteness and more importantly to get attention
5. I like drinking water but I hate walking or soaking in it
6. I love all kind of foods and I will stare at you when you eat but I will give up eventually when you ignore me
7. I rub my face and slap the floor when I get frustrated
8. I know a lot of words such as, breakfast, lunch, dinner, treat, cookie, etc.
9. I love going out
10. I love people, okay with doggie, but definitely avoid cats and birds, maybe I will be less scare if I know them better
11. I tilt my head, usually to the left, if I don't understand what you mean
12. I used to jump on people and lick excessively but I'm doing much less now
13. I stare aimlessly when I pretend I don't understand you to ignore you words
14. I roll over and turn my belly up when I see you coming to drag me to go somewhere, especially go back to my house at bedtime

15. I enjoy having a plain popsicle, so-called ice, in a hot summer day and my favourite snack is in this little jar, peanut butter cookiesLast but not least,
16. I sometimes have accidents in the morning when I'm not fully awake

Happy Thursday!

I've Got Mail

I've been officially out of buckles for two weeks already. But I'm not alone, there are a few unfinished pieces which have been patiently sitting aside and waiting too. Anyways, I have my eyes on these lovely buckles in Thaifabshop for a while. And finally, here they are!Their quality is awesome! I wish that they will have some in slightly smaller size in future, then that will be great. But I'm happy with this for now. Besides the buckles, I couldn't resist on these mini hard boiled eggs and I needed to get some. They are too cute!! I really admire the craftsmanship of Thai. Their miniatures are always so well crafted and coloured.Okie, it's time to go finish up the dresses. Happy Thursday!

Time for the Magic Show

Here comes the little magician from the Apple County. She is one of the lovely gifted children from the Little Spectacular. Her signature trick is the Floating Apple.

Little Magician

Happy Tuesday!

Stuck in the little workshop

I've been busy working on some new patterns the past week. I wouldn't call it was an awful week but it was definitely a pretty disappointing one filled with painful trial and error. Hopefully something nice will come out at some point. So, I just need to keep going!

Before I get back to my little workshop, just want to share with you this one of the only one passed the test so far in the past week. I love puffy sleeves. They are so adorable and sweet. Happy Tuesday!

Two Books to Keep You Busy

Here are two books I've read recently. One is Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph T. Hallinan. As the title speaks pretty well, it is a science book on loads of research on human behaviour, how we choose, how we react, etc. It is interesting and reveals how people take advantage of certain respond and sometimes how people act stupidly.Another one is Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki. It is from a lovely translated series of Japanese books called, Make Good Crafts + Life. It covers 35 simple craft projects. Like many other Japanese craft books, it has a lot beautiful photos and the instructions are easy to read and well illustrated. By the way, on something off topic, I was so happy to receive a snail mail from an old friend yesterday. We rarely receive a true written letter for a long while since the cyberburst. The beauty of reading a hand-written letter was like taking small bits of a delicious gourmet dinner prepared by a dear friend which made me warm in my heart. I guess if so, I should say email is like a frozen dinner and Hallmark cards is like take out, or pizza delivery.
Happy Sunday!

Snail Trail and Deliciously Felt

If anytime I decide to take a morning walk, I usually need to be extra careful. It's because there are many snails in my neighborhood, like a snail trail, and they usually crawl out in the morning. Everytime I see them I wish that I have a camera, so I went this time on purposely with my camera. These poor creatures walk so slowly that sometimes I really want to help carry them over to their destination, which simply the other grassy side by the sidewalk. But I guess I should try to leave the nature alone.

There are a couple nice things I found at Anthropologie. This felt blanket is so pretty and delicately constructed. It almost looks like it is assembled with colorful candy drops.And this bowl of felt soaps not only looks delicious, it also smells so good. These felt soap are made with all natural ingredients from fiat luxe. The felt pocket is supposed to shrink along with the soap and the nature of wool felt will keep the soap smells fresh. Hm... this probably will make a nice little gift.
Happy Thursday!

New painting

Here may I present you another little painting from the Apple Country,

Oliver and Pudding
Happy Wednesday!

Electric Blue meets neon colors

I don't know if it's me or not. It is just so hard to find a right fabric in electric blue. Last week, finally I spotted one close enough for me to settle for the time being. And I was lucky enough to find a tiny batch of precious vintage trim and lace in neon yellow and orange. Here are the first batch of little dresses for this week.

Happy Tuesday!

Fine Treasures

So it's our swap meet time again. There were just too many antique and vintage treasures for us to discover. I've rarely seen these antique strollers. The only times I've seen it were in Vancouver where there's an old prettily country-dressed lady always pushing her snow white goose in a beautifully decorated stroller around downtown area.This little stove was much smaller and shorter than the ones we usually see. I love the blue and white combination.

Happy Monday!

Blythe Quilt Project

I'm so glad to see the Blythe Quilt Project is back. Two reasons, first I missed out on the Manna Energy Dress Drive a few months ago which I would really want to participate, second I always love the Quilt project. Looking back at the little panel I sent in back in 2005 , it brings back a lot of memory. Here is my little contribution this time.

Happy Friday!

It's August 14th and a curious pooch

This is a little treasure I acquired from the Shine Gallery. It is a mini desktop calendar and a pencil sharpener but it will serve mainly as decoration on our desk.

Puchi loves going to the park because every time she gets to run around off-leash and sometimes she meets some new friends there. She loves sniffing around and see who's been there.She is very curious whenever there are people or doggie walk by.Happy Friday!

Orangy Crepes

Crepe Suzette is a French dessert crepe which the crepes are smothered under a rich orange wine sauce. I remember last time I had it was from a "crepe trailer" in Portland years ago. Since then it is just nowhere to be seen. Not to mention Crepe Suzette, I never have any luck in making crepes, either too chewy, too thick or too bland. I had given up trying for a long time. But I love crepes, so finally I got my act together and gave it a try again. I once again altered a recipe based on Chef Emeril Lagasse's recipe.

make six 7 inch crepes
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk
1/3 cup flour
2 large eggs (smallest in the carton)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
pinch of saltIn a large bowl, whisk all the ingredients together. (Remember to melt the butter! I've totally forgotten as you can see my nice piece of butter sitting on the sugar which I later scooped back out to melt.) Whisk until it becomes a smooth and thin batter. Cover and refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours.
Put a small or medium pan (depends on the size you desire) over medium-high heat. When hot, brush lightly with melted butter. Put approx. 4 tablespoons of the batter into the pan and start tilting it to coat evenly immediately. Use a rubber or silicon spatula to check and carefully turn over the crepe when the bottom turns golden brown. Cook until the other side turns colors slightly. Repeat the same with the remaining batter and brush the pan with a little bit of butter if necesscary. It may take one or two try to determine the right amount of batter and time.

the Orange Sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/8 cup of Grand Marnier
Melt butter and sugar in a medium pan over medium high heat until sugar is melted. Add orange juice, orange zest and Grand Marnier, stir together and cook until smooth. Fold crepes into quarters and put into the orange sauce. Warm the crepes until thoroughly heated and transfer crepes to plate. According to the orignal receipe, you should add 1/8 cup of Grand Marnier over the sauce and ignite it with a match but we skipped this part because the liqueur is pretty strong in the sauce already and we don't want to burn down our place. Scoop some sauce over the crepes and serve. Cover the leftovers and keep refrigrated up to 2 days. To reheat, put crepes in microwave and cook for 30 seconds.
The crepes tasted a bit eggy since I used more eggs and less milk than the original recipe. I might try one large egg and 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoon of milk next time. And I wasn't able to find a nice orange so I used tangerine instead. It turned out less orangy as I expected. But overall, it was very delish. I mean it can't go wrong with butter and sugar and I was lucky in the crepes this time.
Happy Thursday!

The Harvester

Another piece from the Apple County, it's a little girl who wanders in the fairyland. Since she doesn't know how to climb a tree and she doesn't have a ladder, she only picks freshly dropped apples from the trees.

the Harvester

Happy Tuesday!

This Week's Feature

Thank you so much for everyone's support and kind words. It is really the driving force behind my sewing desk. =)

Okay, it might sound a bit vain, but I need to show off this week's feature. It's another retro dress crafted with this cute blank doll faces fabric. I didn't realize how photogenic it is until I start shooting it. It's awesome.A little bit on the sweet side, I've created this little country dress with classic black and white gingham fabric. This little creation features 'scalloped' sleeves and scallop embroidery on the dress.They'll up on Etsy later this week.
Happy Tuesday!

Treasure Hunt

I've saved the best of the farmers market for today. It's little shop filled with little vintage treasures, called Shine Gallery. I do mean treasures. It has all these little things mostly from 1910s to 1950s which are in mint or new condition but not expensive at all. It is a must-go for vintage lovers! I used to collect matches but they were kind of taken over by gas lighter these days.Those little mice are so adorable. Those rolls they are standing on are vintage salesman sample toilet paper.By the way, we saw the movie 500 Days of Summer. It was one of the movies we were talking about to see in the past months but didn't got crossed out for seeing too many trailers or bad reviews. It was pretty good and funny. The movie was nicely shot and edited with good casting. I like the simple plot but there were some parts were a little bit slow. It was kind of sad but I think it's a very cute movie at the same time.

Happy Monday!

The Market Place

I always have a special attachment to farmer markets and public markets. Every time when I see those little stalls of fresh produce, gourmet foods markets and specialty shops, I'm so delighted and I know I'll find something special there.
Yet, we've never been to the Los Angeles Farmers Market. It has been there forever and it's celebrating its 75th anniversary. So we decided to check it out.
They have some stores been there since 1934. Like Magee's House of Nuts, opened since 1917 and relocated to the market since 1934. They sell all different kinds of nuts and spreads. And they make their peanut butter right there. Besides peanut butter, they have specialty ones like cashew butter and macadamia nut butter.They have a store selling only hot sauce and a French Market has tons of Cheese and Wine, and the unrealistic looking pretty pasta.A doughnut shop has cat and dinosaur donuts.

We couldn't leave without trying the food there. There were so many choices, from American, to French, to Asian. We've chosen this New Orlean's Cornmeal Breaded Fried Shrimps. It was served with cornbread and pecan green salad. That little marinara looking and tasting dipping sauce was good and a little spicy. And we also got a Texan Barbeque Ribs dish. It was perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned.The only downside of the market was there weren't that many fresh produce stalls, or not as many as expected. And it's not as clean as other ones we've been to. Other than that, it is an interesting place. =)
Happy Sunday!

The Apple County

It's the first one from my new series of apple inspired collection, the Apple County. You can find an apple tree in every corner in this fairyland.

Naptime

Happy Friday!

Yummy Surprise

Sometimes it feels like I've wandered in the little cottage so much that everything seems like new and first time for me. So, we decided to go to Maggiano's Little Italy. I was told it's a chain like Cheesecake Factory but it's Italian. It made the restaurant sounds more interesting to me when we were killing time in the mall, it happened that we overheard someone next to us unable to make a reservation. Isn't really that popular? Luckily, we made our reservation early.
It was a pretty big restaurant and was quite fancily decorated inside. The tables were covered with tablecloth. I noticed that not many restaurants use tablecloth these days. Instead, they use the paper placemat, or even worse, nothing. It feels different if you sit at a 'tableclothed' table. We got a nice booth. When I started studying the menu, I realized it wasn't as pricey as I expected. They have this awesome promotion called Maggiano's Tomorrow Too which you get a half portion of pasta and choose another half portion of pasta to take home. We couldn't resist and ordered the special.
Their bread is very good, crispy outside and soft inside. We had mussels in Diavolo style (spicy tomato sauce) and zucchini fritte for appetizers. They were both delish. I like the lemon aioli cream sauce came with the zucchini. It reminds me of the sauce served with calamari in Greek restaurant.
It's pretty generous for this half portion dish.The pasta dishes were quite big even they were half portion. The sauce was more on the soupy side. It tasted okay compared to Pasta Pomodoro which we like better. It seemed like they put more salt and garlic in the sauce than Pomodoro.
Overall, the service was friendly and professional. We definitely got more than what we paid, for the food, the service and the nice settings. I would recommend to try it out if you like decent American Italian food.
Happy Tuesday!

Preview of the week

How about some cupcakes? This little cupcake dress make your girl as sweet as cupcakes. Featuring the little cupcakes fabric and ruffle sleeves, it is definitely cuteness overloaded.What about her secret side? Nothing inappropriate! I just mean her double identity as a secret agent.

Happy Tuesday!

Open House

It's not any regular house, it's the playhouse! We were so lucky to have the opportunity to visit the open house at the Annual Project Playhouse. It's organized by the HomeAid Orange County in order to raise money to fund housing for the homeless. The playhouse will be on displayed for about a month and auction off. But the open house is only an one day event!

Since the playhouses are contributed by real home builders, they are like mini real houses.
My favourite was the seaside cottage.the little attic den in the farmhouselittle dog houseThey are all delightfully decorated in different theme. The French country house is so elegant and pretty.For more info, check out the Project Playhouse website.
Happy Monday!