Needle felted applique coin purse

Hello all!  I learned something new this week that I had been itching to try for a long time... a needle felting applique technique.

These are the items used for needle felting: wool roving, felting needle, and a foam pad.

First I drew flowers and leaves on to linen scrap with water soluble marking pen.

Then I simply pushed small pieces of wool roving with a felting needle, straight up and down with a punching motion through linen scrap, set on a foam pad.

It's a repetitive process, and before you know it, the action of the felting needle pulls the fibers together. 

I am just a beginner but I really enjoyed the process of punching a needle back and forth through wool and fabric... It's really a good stress reliever! (lol)

I made the finished felted applique linen pieces into a coin purse using metal purse frame.

The opposite side has a small flower.

Interior of the purse has more flowers :)

I am happy of how this turned out.   Needle felting was so fun, that I can't wait to start my next project soon!

And by the way... tonight we are having our ten year old daughter's sleepover birthday party at our place, and our house is totally packed with so many girls right now (including our own girls and myself). 

The girls seem to be having such a good time together and they are all so sweet, but everyone has become so hyper that none of them are sleeping yet (and it's past 1 a.m. now!)

I've been trying to put them to sleep but I gave up...  So I'm going to bed now and leave the wild monkeys go wilder... Who knows what will happen to our house while I'm asleep (lol)!

Love, Amy***

the exhausted mom from California :D

Lovely package received...!

Look what I received in our mail recently...

 I received a lovely package from my dear blog friend, Ryoko, of cocostitch.  She is a talented sewist/quilter/etsy shop owner who sells pretty handmade items in her shop.

In the package, I found a set of this meticulously patchworked and quilted table runner and a potholder!

We remodeled our kitchen last year, and these are housewarming gifts from Ryoko for our new kitchen.  How nice of her to surprise me like this!!

 

Ever since I saw this item on Ryoko's flickr page, I just loved it so much.  I have a soft spot for polka dots and kitchen themed fabrics, and the fabric combination, the quilting, the back fabric, and the binding of this table runner was just so adorable and of my taste... *sighs*

But who had imagined that it will end up on our kitchen table?  I mean, it just sounds too good to be true, right?

 

The reversible side of the table runner... I love the yellow binding.

The binding is perfectly hand sewn by Ryoko.  Job well done :D

On top of those gorgeous handmade items, she also included these beautiful Japanese imported fabrics from Yuwa. 

Thank you, Ryoko, for the incredibly warm and generous gift!  I don't know if I can actually use these handmade gifts in our kitchen (I just want to stare at them, at least for now!) but we will definitely appreciate them for a long long time.

And thank you, my lovely blogging/crafting friends, for visiting my blog today.  Hope you're enjoying your day as much as I am :)

Love, Amy

Handmade iPhone covers with matching fabric covered buttons

These are newly made iPhone/iPod covers listed in my shop for Japan Relief fundraising.

These cases are fully padded with fleece batting for full protection.

A matching covered button (3/4 inch) and an elastic loop securely holds the valuable device...

Hope they can find new owners soon :)

Thanks for viewing and hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Love, Amy

Zakka style cotton and linen reversible bag made for my shop

I just added this reversible handbag to my etsy shop.   The design and pattern of this bag is my original.

As I've mentioned in my earlier post, the entire proceeds from the sales of this bag, and all other items in my shop, will be donated to Ashinaga organization of Japan (あしなが育英会）　that supports the children who lost their parent(s) from the Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The reversible side of the bag.  Linen exterior and the cotton crocheted doily has the Japanese zakka style that I like :)

 

The doily flap is croched by me...



It's a good size to carry your everyday necessities, such as cell phone, keys, wallet, and other small items.  The bag has flat shape.

I've placed fabric covered bottons on both sides of the bag (interior and exterior) to close the doily flap.

Has one pocket for easy access of small items...

BTW I'm really in the "creative" mode right now to make many items as possible to attract etsy shoppers...   Even when I'm at sleep, I'm thinking and designing about my next project(s) and creating them in my dream! (really).

My wish is to raise enough money to donate to Ashinaga to help those children in Japan who have lost so much.  And I'm willing to do the best I can, which includes sewing agressively even in my dream... lol!

Thanks for viewing and I'll be back soon :)



My etsy shop reopened for fundraising :)

I reopened my etsy shop over this weekend.  

As I've mentioned in my earlier post, I decided to donate 100% sales proceeds from my shop sales (less shipping and handling) to Japan Relief as my way to continue to support Japan's relief efforts.

In 2011, after Japan was hit by that mega earthquake and tsunami, I raised my fundraising goal of $1000 from my etsy sales proceeds, with the help from my friends and customers, and was able to donate the entire amount to the Japanese Red Cross Society for Japan Earthquake Relief.

This year, I decided to donate my entire shop proceeds to "Ashinaga" organization of Japan (あしなが育英会) until further notice.  FYI the word "Ashinaga" means "Daddy Long Legs" in Japanese.

According to the media, approximately 1,300 children in Japan under the age of 18 has lost one or both of their parents from the last year's earthquake and tsunami.  The "Ashinaga" organization supports these children both financially and emotionally.  Being a mom myself, I wanted to do something to support these young Japanese children who has gone through so much from last year's worst natural disaster in nearly 100 years of recent Japan's history...

So... let me take a moment to showcase some of the new items that I've listed in my shop this weekend.

This is a linen pouch/card case/digital camera case with doily flap.  The flap closes with a fabric covered button that is the same fabric with the pouch lining.

Linen pouch opened.  Lining is Japanese imported 100% cotton floral print. 

The doily is crocheted by me.   The design of the pouch and doily is my original.

This is a iPhone/iPod sleeve with doily flap.  100% linen is used for the exterior, and Denise Schmidt DS quilt collection print is used for the lining. 

As with the linen pouch above, the doily flap is hand crocheted by me. 

These are crocheted hair scrunchies in different colored edging.  Acrylic glitter yarns are used for the ruffle edge. 

To make these hair scrunchies, the yarns are carefully crocheted around these quality ponytail holder elastic (one elastic for each scrunchie).

Now, let me move on to my handmade bags.

I had so much fun making this one.  It's a log cabin patchwork and linen reversible tote bag.  The bag is a good size to every day necessities as well as books, knitting and crocheting supplies, etc.

The opposite side of the bag exterior looks like this.

Bag bottom.

For reversible side, matching fabric from the same DS quilts collection is used for different look.

Oh, and I had to make this bag for my love of Matryoshka (Russian dolls) :D

As with many bags that I make, this granny bag is reversible.  Wood handles adds that retro touch to the bag, I think.

Reversible side is simple brown/white polka dots.

This granny bag is roomy inside with one inside pocket.  The bag bottom looks like this.

Well, that's it for today, and thank you so much for reading this long post!!  I'm really not sure how much I can raise from this DIY fundraising efforts (lol), but wish me luck for the success of my fundraiser :D

Hope you have a good week!

Love, Amy xoxo

One year from the Japan's disaster...

map from mapsnworld.com

March 11, 2012 marks the one year anniversary of the northeastern Japan's 9.0 earthquake, the huge tsunamis, and the on-going nuclear plant meltdown disaster of the Fukushima power plant...

I just had to take a moment tonight to send all my heart and deepest sympathy to my home country, Japan.  

At the same time, I'd like to thank all of you who continue to care deeply about Japan and for the Japanese people whose lives were turned upside down one year ago and are still struggling to put their lives back together. Thank you very much for your continued support and love.



I am planning to reopen my etsy shop soon to begin another fundraising for Japan Relief.   As you may recall, in 2011, I was able to make some monetary donations for Japan Relief through my handmade creations with the support from my friends and customers of my shop.   Detail post here.



I'm not sure how much I can actually donate from my online shop sales this time, and I know that such small donation may not help rebuild the diaster stricken area and the people, but I still want to try my best and see what I can do for my part...


So... here's a peek of my handmade items that I created recently, which I plan to list in my shop for the fundraiser soon.

Matryoshka granny bag with round handles.

Patchwork log cabin and linen tote bag.

I'm hoping to create more items... and I will try my best :D

 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and thank you so much for thinking about Japan with me.  

With lots of love to you and your loved ones,

Amy

Crochet hair scrunchies with glittery yarn edging

We're in the midst of tax season right now, and  I've been crunching numbers all day lately which can get really exhausting... Often times, it comes to a point where I need a good mind refresher to lift up my spirits...  
So what do I do?  

Yes, I crochet! I made many of these crocheted hair scrunchies recently :D   For me, crocheting is a fun and inexpensive way to relieve everyday stress and to give me a sense of accomplishment, especially after a long "unaccomplished" day...

 I like to carry yarns and a hook wherever I go to enjoy stitching these small projects.   If you see a middle aged Japanese looking woman crocheting something while she's standing in line at a local supermarket checkout... that's got to be me!!  LOL

To make these scrunchies, I used leftover acrylic yarns overall.

I really did not follow any pattern to make these, although I was inspired by this Japanese craft book.  These scrunchies are simply made up of combinations of double crochets, single crochets, and chain stitches.

Black Caron glimmer yarn is used for this edging.  This chenille yarn adds that soft puffiness and the sparkling effect, which I really like :)

Hair scrunchie worn by our 10 year old daughter here.

For these colorful edgings, I used Lion brand Vanna's glamour yarn, which comes in various colors.

I personally like the white/silver combination the best, I think.

How do you like this hair scrunchies "tower" on our paper towel holder? :D

Well, thanks for visiting my blog today and hope you have a relaxing weekend!! 

Love, Amy xoxo