crafty love

"Breathing in Japan" my new photo book

2012-02-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

This is my new photo book, Breathing in Japan. It's a selection of my photos from my last trip to Japan in March of 2011. If you are interested in getting a copying you can get one here.

Valentine's Day Giveaway! leave a comment to enter!

2012-02-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hi lovely friends, I'm having a giveaway this week for a copy of my Tokyo Guide zine. One wonderful person will receive my zine in a fun package with some extra goodies. Just leave a comment below and make sure you leave me a contact email, you have until Valentine's day, February 14th, 10am eastern time.

Sweet gifts

2012-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share the lovely things Kelly sent me all the way from Australia. Super sweet necklace and pretty little champinon pin. Thank you Kelly!

A few pics from the weekend

2012-02-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

These are few iPhone shots next week I should hopefully have a couple of rolls to post of a walk through the Gowanus, a little solo adventure in Brooklyn Chinatown and this coming weekends excitement, the Chinese New Year parade in Flushing.

Sketchbook Project Update: Part 6-ALL FINISHED!

2012-01-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

The last bits of my sketchbook, it's off to the Brooklyn Art Library today.

Sketchbook Project Update: Part 5-collage and watercolor

2012-01-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

Time is gaining on me, I only have a couple of days to finish my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2012. The book has to be postmarked January 31,2012, so I technically have until Monday, but I really want to get it to the post office on Friday.
Here are a few more pages. The paper crane (Tsuru) page you saw, this is just a crisper pic. A lot of the pages are interactive too. I have a mini scrapbook with paper souvenirs from my trips to Japan. Then there's a little envelope that is not seal, the outside is futons in a gymnasium after the Kobe earthquake in 1995 and the inside is the mangled mess of a freeway in Kobe. There are pages with little watercolors of things that were part of my everyday in Tokyo, and a little walking map (half watercolor half photographs) of my walk everyday to and from the train station. Of course I thought the train map from my zine had a good spot in here. Last is a mini package.

Tokyo Winter Gardens

2012-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

This photo post is for my partner, Debra, who loves these wonderful gardens like I do. We are both fascinated how so many people in Japan and other parts of Asian cultures have this amazing aesthetic to create lovely gardens out of a mix-match of old pots and plants. Love, love.

Hard Believer-First Aid Kit

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

My friend shared this lovely Swedish band with me and I absolutely love them, I think you will too.

Mail! Maps & Fragments....

2012-01-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I got a lovely package in the mail from Sewon from Maps & Fragments. I bought her beautiful photography zine from her adventures in China last week and she added some cute stuff inside. Inside there was in addition to the zine, mini photo stickers in a tiny handmade envelope, a lovely tsuru (paper crane), and two beautiful postcards from her photos. Thanks Sewon, I love it all. Get your copy on Etsy.

Japan Guide Zine's in my new shop!

2012-01-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

meiji square, janneserojas©2011

I was so excited to find my zines all waiting in a neat little box for me last week. So I started shipping those out to the pre-order people on Friday. I have a limited quantity so order it fast before you miss out. The first ten orders will get mini photographs printed on quality matte photograph paper. Check one out in my shop Usagi Por Moi

*to those friends who already have seen me post about the zine my apologises, i'm just really excited to get them out to people*

Happy New Year! I few things...

2012-01-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

I want to wish you all a wonderful New Year! It's been a crazy two weeks, I've been working on renovating my studio and I got a freelance job the first week out of the new year, which is amazing!

First I'd like to share that my Zine is officially in and available for purchase, right now it's up in my Etsy shop, so if you haven't bought one get one soon because I only have a limited amount of copies and if you already bought it I will make a very good attempt at getting it the mail by Saturday (just swamped with a work deadline). Thank you all who have bought the zine or who plan to buy it, please drop me a line here to let me know if you liked it.

Next I want to share a lovely gift from Ros from Polkaros. Thank you so much Ros it's all so lovely and your zine is amazing. Super sweet and wonderful of you to share such lovely gifts. Happy New Year!

Mini Birthday Card Sets in the Shop!

2011-12-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

I worked on these little mini birthday card sets this week and they are up in my shop.
Sets A & B are in my Shop and Sets C & D are in my Etsy store

Set A

Set B

Set C

Set D

Tokyo Photojournal & Travel Guide- PRE-ORDER!!!

2011-12-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends...

I had a friend come over last night and she brought in a little package left at my door by the postman and do you know what it was? it was the proof for my Zine!!!! It's amazing!!! I was floored by how beautifully it was printed!!! I gave the go ahead for the rest to go to production, so I have the zine up for pre-order in my etsy store. I should have them here before the New Year *crossing fingers and toes*. I have only a limited amount of copies, so you may want to get it sooner rather than later.

40 pages, full color
Glossy Paper (80lb Text)

A few favorite things.....

2011-12-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

I got the new Frankie and these are a few of my favorite things....

LuFlux

golden ponies (these go on my birthday wishlist for sure)

Lauren Moffatt

Mail Day!

2011-12-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I sent a few things off through the Post. First thing is, last weeks giveaway winner, Kelly Zarb, is getting her little doll who's peeking through in the first pic here. Next It's my sister's birthday so I made her a card and jazzed up the envelope with some MT tape. Lastly, but not least a lovely Usagi Por Moi customer, Nicole, is getting her little handmade notebook (thank you Nicole).

Sketchbook Project Update: Part 4-TSURU

2011-12-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

This the next installment in my sketchbook. My sketchbook is turning into a sculpture, I think. I like adding the interactive or three-dimensional aspect to it.

Winter has arrived it's time for the hot foods-Making Ojiya

2011-12-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

It's quite chilly now in New York, it's time to eat lots hot foods. Ramen and Udon are at the top of my list, but a really easy one to make at home is Ojiya(basically Japanese risotto). Ojiya is a rice porridge and you can make it with all sorts of ingredients but a basic and tasty one is Yuzu Ojiya.

Makes 2 servings (double for 4):

2 cups of cooked short grain rice (like sushi rice)
2 cups dashi stock (from mix, use 1/4 tsp in 2 cups of hot water)
soy sauce or salt
1 to 2 eggs
finely chopped scallions
yuzu (or lemon) rind cut into very small fine pieces

In a pot put your rice and dashi stock and cook at medium heat, keep an eye on it
and stir occasionally. Let the rice absorb most of the water, it should have the consistency of a thin porridge. If the dashi is too bland tasting you can add a little salt or soy sauce. It will take about 5 to 8 minutes.
Mix an egg or 2 in a bowl and slowly pour in while stirring gently to get the mixture spread evenly this will also give your porridge a smoother consistency.
And your done cooking!
Next pour out a portion into a bowl and top with scallion and yuzu(or lemon). Mix and ready to eat! Enjoy!

Playing Catchup! Part IV: Chicago

2011-12-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

I visited Chicago about three weeks ago, to attend to my friend Sunny's wedding. We were only there a weekend so we didn't have much time to explore. We picked one neighborhood to visit, Andersonville,which was a predominantly Swedish neighborhood. There are still a few things that are Swedish, like the water tower is painted in the familiar blue and yellow, there's a Swedish bakery and deli, and a lovely painted wooden horse.

Forest Girl

2011-12-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

This lovely mook,Lesson5 girl loves the forest, come winter, is full of Mori girls fashion. I love the cute clogs page and the Mori girl home decor, loooovvvvveeeee! The mook came with a sweet little tote inside by Natural Label.

森ガール Lesson5 大好きな、冬が来る (e-MOOK) [大型本]

Remember the Giveaway deadline is December 10th for this lovely little doll.

Sketchbook Project Update: Part 3

2011-12-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

This is the work so far in my sketchbook, it's evolving into a more complete piece. The book contains what I love about Japan, the influence it's had on me, the time I spent there, and the anxiety and fear I experienced because of earthquake. I'm posting some of the images from before because I feel it should be viewed as a whole. I'm drawing, painting, collaging and adding my photography to my book. I am treating as a sketchbook should be for working out ideas and emotions and not as a polished piece of art.

Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival

2011-12-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went with a couple of friends to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival 2011. There were a lot of great artists, amazing books and zines. One of my favorites is Jen Tong. She does these lovely delicate screen prints of little fairy people and fantastic creatures. Her color use is just breath taking. I especially love her use of neon and making it subtle. I bought this tiny screen printed zine.

Playing Catchup! Part III: The Gowanus, Brooklyn

2011-12-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Part of my walking around in my hood usually takes me to the Gowanus, it's not pretty like Brooklyn Heights like my previous post but it has it's own urban beauty.

Natural Living-Japanese Magazine

2011-12-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

I'm reading (really looking at the pics, can't read any Japanese) this Japanese magazine called Natural Living, filled with beautiful photographs of interiors, collections, food, clothing. It's a women's magazine with food recipes, knitting patterns, and crafty projects.

Natural Living
January 2012
well vol.84 "rid us"

116 pages
Code :16489 -01 journal
Release Date: November 19, 2011
Price: 690 yen (tax included)

Giveaway! Handmade doll!

2011-12-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. I just designed this little lady, she's one of three designs that I plan to have in my store in the new year. This is Chiyo she's the Harajuku girl. Chiyo is a smaller version of the girls I will have in the future, she's the first sample that I made at home. She stands at 9" tall. So this little lady will have two sisters, Aya from Nakameguro and Miho from Shimokitazawa, and they will be styled like the ladies that live in those neighborhoods. So Chiyo needs a home, so she's going to be my holiday giveaway. If you like her, just leave a comment with your name and I will add you to the drawing. The drawing will be Saturday, December 10th at 10am eastern standard time. Good Luck!

Playing Catchup! Part II: A Brooklyn Stroll

2011-12-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a collection of photos from a few rolls I just got back from a walk around my surrounding neighborhoods...

Playing Catchup! Part I: S T O R M K I N G!

2011-12-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks I've been furiously finishing my Tokyo guide zine so I've been lax on the postings. Good news and good news. The zine is off to the printers and will hopefully be here next week and in my store! I will have a limited amount of zines in my store because they were a bit costly to print, that'll teach to make a 40 page zine. Anywho the zines will come with a lil' surprise inside, so I'm not sure if I will offer a PDF version yet, also the file sizes are enormous because of all my photographs.
So I will be playing catchup in the next few posts, I will also give you a sneak peek of a really cute project on working on, plus a holiday giveaway is coming up.

Without further ado here are the past three weeks......

Stormking Art Center is a beautiful open-air museum in the Hudson Valley in New York. I went with D about three weeks ago on the second to last weekend before they shut down for the season. It was quiet and magnificent. Acres of forest and open fields with beautiful sculptures. Here are some photographs from this outing.

Get rid of my dog, NEVER!

2011-11-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

I have to write this because I am very disturbed that a fellow blogger, who will remain unnamed, did a truly terrible thing. This woman who's European living in Asia was told by her landlord after just moving in that she must get rid of her dog. Now I understand this is a bad spot to be put in, BUT, I would have asked if the building I was moving into allowed pets, specifically dogs. I've moved with pets and I always ask, even before looking at an apartment if they allow them. So for this blogger to say she lost 2 nights sleep over telling her children that their dog was being thoughtlessly given away, I can't even imagine having the audacity to write a post about it. She lost sleep over telling her kids not that this animal was now losing it's family and home that it's known it's whole life, that's so sad for that creature. She should be ashamed of herself and should have found another home for her family where everyone was welcomed. If she got a letter saying children weren't allowed, which is a very real scenario would she have gotten new home for them instead of moving, you know the answer to that. I followed this blog religiously and was sad to have to take her off my RSS feed, but I can't read such a heartless person's blog.
I've had a troubled dog for 11 years and not once have I thought all I'll just get rid of him out of convenience. I'm sorry to be so angry but someone has to speak for those who can't.

Sketchbook Project Update: Part 2

2011-11-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

I feel like I started to have a real direction in my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2012. I'm taking all my experience of living in through the earthquake in Japan and the moments leading up to and after that I experienced. I'm incorporating photographs from my collection that I shot while there to help tell the story.

New in my Etsy Shop

2011-11-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

I just updated my etsy store if you feel like stopping by. Here a few things I added.

Sketchbook update

2011-11-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

Here a few pages from my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project

MT Saves the day!

2011-11-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of matchboxes can be ugly laying around the house, so I spruced them up with wonderful MT tape.

Usagi Por Moi Shop Open!

2011-11-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

Dear friends I have two pieces of news for you today. First I would like to introduce my new shop Usagi Por Moi. The shop will carry paper goods like stationery and gift wrapping essentials, plus accessories like totes in my giveaway two weeks ago. Second, in conjunction my etsy store will still be up but I have renamed to be the same as my independent shop, Usagi Por Moi. Some items will be listed in the etsy shop and others in my independent shop. The links will always be on the navigation bar on the left.
So first order of business here are a few things available in the my new shop

Since the gift giving season is upon us I thought I should share these
lovely gift wrapping essentials. These can go on any perfect package, be it the holidays, a birthday, an anniversary, or just because you love sending gifts to your pen pal. Each set comes with two rosettes. Get them here.

Crocheting in Japanese-new book

2011-11-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Lovely crochet book can't wait to make something from this book.

本
きれい色のニット雑貨毛糸の色を自由に選んで、あむのも、使うの…
了戒加寿子
主婦の友社
ISBN：9784072622209
2008年10月発売単行本

Any desired colors beautiful colors of yarn knitted goods
Hisako completed 戒加
主婦No友社
ISBN: 9784072622209
Launched in October 2008 Paperback

Japanese Hominess

2011-11-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

This a beautiful Japanese home magazine,Ouchi no hon, on organization. Everything is so soft and elegant.

Of your book
Ouchinohon
e-MOOK
Author-Uchida, Ayano
Publisher Takarajimasha
Takarashi Mashiya
isbn978-4-7966-6879-8

おうちの本
ｵｳﾁﾉﾎﾝ
ｅ－ＭＯＯＫ　
内田　彩仍著　
ｳﾁﾀﾞ,ｱﾔﾉ出版社宝島社
ﾀｶﾗｼﾞﾏｼﾔ
isbn978-4-7966-6879-8

Desk in my studio

2011-11-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

I have a real messy creative corner. And this only a portion, under my desk I have many a drawer filled with supplies and my sewing machine, two closets filled with fabrics and bins of yarn. Total chaos, I need to get it under control.

Cover work-Sketchbook Project 2012

2011-11-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

I started my sketchbook by working on the covers. I wanted to have the feel of my mini books that I hand bind and make with origami paper and washi tape. Also since my theme is Transatlantic I thought it would be fitting to cover it in something from overseas, from my favorite place in the world, lovely Japan. Then I added a little interactive surprise for those who get to the end of the sketchbook, a little envelope pocket with pull tab and photo I took on my last trip to Japan of a sweet school girl on her way home before the earthquake happened. trying to decide if I should add text to the envelope to let the viewer know that this was about an hour before the quake. Please feel free to leave a comment on your feelings if I should add the text.

A little nature

2011-11-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook Project

2011-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

I just received my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project, I'm so excited to start. I already have an idea for the cover so I will get that going later today. The Brooklyn Art Library's project has thousands of artists all over the world sketching in small sketchbooks and then collecting them all by January 31st, 2012 and sending them on a world tour for everyone to view them, then later they will be added to the library's collection for all to enjoy. I'm lucky enough to live in Brooklyn so I will have the collection to peruse as I wish. Also I'm simultaneously working on another sketchbook that is going to tie in with Sketchbook Project sketchbook and I will make into a zine, it's called of Journal of Stars and I'm trying to incorporate stars in all my drawings since they always baffle me PLUS since I've become obsessed with washi tape I'm adding bits of tape to each of my sketches. This idea will also flow into the Sketchbook Project.

Sewon your package is going out today!!!

Gift Wrapping Goodness

2011-11-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I received my sister's wedding book that I designed, plus a copy for my mom and dad so I thought time for some kawaii wrapping! Oh then I thought my friends' kid just had a birthday too, need a cute gift and wrap! Out came the supplies. Stamps, ink, washi tape, lace, pom poms, glue, needle & thread, everything that I could think of. A little thinking and a lot of letting go my imagination took over and brought me these.

I almost forgot, I have a secret project I'm working on, I'll have a little store opening up soon for this blog called usagi por moi and some of the first items will be gift wrapping items like the little paper flowers in the pics above. Check in next week when I make the announcement I'll have another give away.

Happy Homemade Vol 3. For sale

2011-10-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Crafty Pidgeons, I have this lovely Japanese sewing pattern book available for sale. It's completely intact with all it's patterns attached at the back of the book. Now why am I selling it instead of keeping it, well this dummy accidentally bought two copies, not realizing I already owned one. Anywho, here are some pretty pics of some of the sweet dresses and tops you can make. If you are interested just comment or send me an email. The book is priced at $21 plus shipping to where ever your lovely home is.

Hey Folks it's a giveaway!- Free Tote!

2011-10-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Okay Folks, here's this week's giveaway, an usagi covered tote. These little hippity-hops were hand-carved by yours truly and then stamped. I added a little embroidery and a fun colorful pom. This sweet tote is up for grabs, just leave a comment with your name and your favorite animal. You have until Monday night, October 31st (halloween!)11pm eastern time. Good luck! Absolutely freee!

Fudge, So-en, Kazumi Udagawa

2011-10-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Just sharing a few of my recent Japanese aquirements from Kinokuniya. A little fashion, a little crafting, shake well and you've got a happy girl :)

Polkaros got her gift

2011-10-24T15:58:00.001-07:00

Okay, Ros from Polkaros got her gift in the mail last week so I'm able to reveal the contents of her goodie bag. I made her all her gifts. A tote hand stamped with my own stamps and also purchased stamps, plus a made a fringy pom pom made from cute Japanese fabrics. Then I made her a little phone accessory that's a lil' girl monster. I included some self-made stickers, a little flower brooch, a felted hair clip, and an owley felted bookmark.

New Stamps and Nifty giveaway!

2011-10-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Pidgeons! I have a nifty gift giveaway coming up tomorrow, which I will share a sneaky peek with you today. Also just wanted to show you the stamps I carved this weekend, one will appear on your nifty gift.

Soundtrack for Everday Adventures

2011-10-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Got the new Lullatone this week Soundtrack for Everday Adventures, I highly recommend it, especially for when when you are making your crafty crafts. Buy it here

Lullatone - "Growing Up"

from the album "Soundtracks for Everyday Adventures"

http://lullatone.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-for-everyday-adventures

a Brooklyn Wedding

2011-10-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

My sister was married last month and I photographed her wedding entirely on film and D was my assistant and backed me up digitally until I ran out of film then I took over the digital SLR too. Yeah I'm a camera hog, I admit it. Anywho, I've been away from the blog for a few days because I've been furiously working on her wedding present which is a collection of the photographs as a storybook/photobook plus I've been trying to wrap up the Tokyo guide zine (almost done :) I wanted to share just a few of the shots from my sister's wedding. I have the whole photo story up on my portfolio . It's a very annotated story, since I shot about 200 on film and 200 digital and I have 26 up, but I feel like it tells the whole story.

n-closet & Life-Japanese Mook

2011-10-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share the beauty of this wonderful mook that I got a little while ago. The best tagline is on the back cover "my favorite natural zakka". This is the perfect mook to look at with a giant cup of matcha latte, yummmm....

ｎ‐ｃｌｏｓｅｔ＆ＬＩＦＥ私の好きなナチュラル雑貨
Ｇａｋｋｅｎ　Ｉｎｔｅｒｉｏｒ　Ｍｏｏｋ
出版社名：学研パブリッシング
出版年月： 2010年7月
ISBNコード： 978-4-05-605965-6
(4-05-605965-9)
税込価格： 1,260円
頁数・縦：９８Ｐ　３０ｃｍ
出荷の目安：現在ご注文できません

My favorite natural n-Goods closet & LIFE
Gakken Interior Mook
Publisher Name: Gakken Publishing
Date of publication: July 2010
ISBN: 978-4-05-605965-6
(4-05-605965-9)
Tax: 1,260 yen
Vertical Number of pages: 98P 30cm

and the WINNER is.......

2011-10-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Pidgeons, we've got a winner for the lovely usagi bookmark. The winner of the fuzzy cotton tail is KELLY!!! I took all your names and threw them inside a film canister and shook it up and let one fall out, and voila, Kelly's name popped out. Everyone that participated thanks for reading my blog and commenting, I'll have more prizes coming up. I'll announce another one next week.
Kelly email me your address please so I can mail you your little gift.

Zine-Tokyo Guide COMING SOON!!!

2011-10-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

I finally found someone to print my zine, so now I'm super motivated to finish it up. Not long now folks. I'm hoping to be done designing it by the end of October and have it up for sale in November. My guide is very photo heavy since it's meant as a photo journal as much as a guide, I think you'll like it pigeons.

Packages, Packages coming in, going out!

2011-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last night, I had a lovely surprise waiting for me before I turned in. Someone had left my package from Jenna, "My Life As A Magazine", at my door. Super happy to receive Jenna's zine, Japan in a Collection, with all the kawaii images from literally her collection of wonderful treats from Japan and great guide. Thanks for sharing, Jenna, it's lovely.

I also wanted to share the package I have ready to send out to Ros.Was going to the post today, but my pup is feeling well so I have to stay with him. Tomorrow then.

Give-away! Here's the Prize.

2011-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

As promised here's the little gift I'm giving. This a needle felted bookmark by moi. It's a little Usagi showing off his fuzzy cotton-tail. The edges are blanket stitched with baby blue embroidery floss. Ground 100% felted wool in pea green, bunny is a fluffy peachy cream with grey flannel wooley tail. Pretty crochet trim as bookmark tails in ecru.

So as I said in my previous post please leave your name and favorite Japanese treat in the comments, you have until 10pm eastern on Thursday to post. On Friday morning I will announce the winner. If you already left a comment in the previous post no worries I got your names. Good luck, pigeons!

Give-aways starting this week!

2011-10-11T13:56:00.001-07:00

Friends, this has been long over due, I'm starting give-aways this week. I was inspired by many of my fellow bloggers, like Beebee and Jenna and by a gift I'm sending my friend Ros from Polkaros. All give-aways will be made by me and will come in super kawaii style gift wrap! Why am I doing this, because I like you and I make a lot of spiffy stuff that needs a home.

I won't reveal the contents of Ros' gift yet, because I want it to be a surprise! Right now you get to see the two smaller packages, I'll post the big one tomorrow and the big reveal will be when Ros gets it.

Anywho, back to the give-aways. I will be posting the prize tomorrow morning, and all you have to do is leave me a comment with your name and favorite Japanese treat. You have until Thursday 10pm eastern to enter and on Friday morning I will announce the winner. Please check back to see if you won and send me your address so I can send you your gift. Email jannese1970@gmail.com or just click the link on the left.

Vintage finds-a day at the flea

2011-10-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were blessed with absolutely splendid weather, the sky and air were sparkling! Sunday we headed to the Flea, in Williamsburg and it was the first time I actually enjoyed it because I wasn't frying in the sun, or freezing my buns off. With that enjoyment came clear concentration to find all the best vintage had to offer. Here are few of the spectacular finds. The first lovely got to come home with me and sits on my pretty peacock blue mid-century chair and looks quite spiffy indeed.

Alphabet stamp set Mizutama and friends!

2011-10-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

I got the Stamp book by Mizutama and other Japanese stamp artists, a couple of weeks ago and it came with a wonderful stamp set including a whole alphabet letter set, but it needed mounting to be usable. It's taken me a week and a half to frakin' finish this stamp set, and obviously A LOT of BSG (Battle Star Galactica). I made myself crazy finishing this project while I was also making the galletica stationery set. I was trying to figure out how I could make the letter stamp set compact and much like the one I bought at Loft in Tokyo, where it neatly fit into a little box. SO! I thought balsa wood, it's easy to cut and I could buy long square dowels for a couple of dollars. So the first part took a while because I had to cut two sets of 26 wood mounts, so that's 52 pieces, then another 10 for the numbers. I glued all the rubber letters onto the wood pieces, next I needed to make a cute box to keep them in so I recycled a cut priority mail box, and made a small box with a lid. Then I had to make it pretty, so I used some of the cute polka dot origami paper I had and some pretty matching mt tapes for the edges. After I was done with that I realized I had to add identification to the tops of all the stamps so it won't take me hour looking for the letter "a". First I hand-lettered all the tops but wasn't loving it. Finally I printed letters and glued it to the tops of the mounts. I also mounted all the other stamps only a few are pictured here. Done! Eeep!

New Stationery Galleticas in my Shop!

2011-10-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Up in shop

Galleticas! New crafty pastries as stationery!

2011-10-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

I'm adding a new set to my Usagi Por Moi stationery in my esty shop, called Galleticas, which means cookies in spanish. Anywho, the little stationery packet will come with three blank cards, three envelopes, and sheet of stickers with cute stamps from my collection.
Check-in a day or so, and the first set will be up. Plus some other cute surprises! The envelopes are all handmade in pretty polkadots paper, and you'll get a cupcake, a star cookie with smiley face, and macaroons! YUM! Don't eat them!

Sweets and Flowers

2011-10-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

New graphic design book.

Sweets & Flowers/Atelier*Spoon

Ｓｗｅｅｔｓ　＆　Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ　お菓子と花の素材集
Ａｔｅｌｉｅｒ＊Ｓｐｏｏｎ／著
出版社名：翔泳社
出版年月： 2011年1月
ISBNコード： 978-4-7981-2294-6
(4-7981-2294-7)
税込価格： 2,415円

Candy and flower Yun Sweets & Flowers
Author: Atelier * Spoon /
Publisher Name: Addison-Wesley
Publication Date: January 2011
ISBN: 978-4-7981-2294-6
(4-7981-2294-7)

A little Stationery video-making recycled stationery

2011-09-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

A Thank You card and Envelope set.

A visit with Polkaros

2011-09-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was special day for me, I got to meet a fellow blogger friend Ros Lee from Polkaros. Ros was visiting New York for a couple of weeks but unfortunately our wires got crossed and we only got to hang out for day, but nonetheless, I had fun, and hope you did too Ros. We only had a couple of hours before shops closed and I had to run home to my dogs so we had lunch first at Rucola, which has delicious salads and sandwiches for lunch, and the venue is super cute with it's rustic feel. After lunch we meandered around Boerum Hill (where I live) and Cobble Hill and perused the shops. First store we went into was the Jonathan Adler shop with mind-blowing objet d'art for the home and lots of super adorable needle point pillows. We stopped in a quite a few vintage and antique stores which my neighborhood is brimming with. Ros struggled with bringing home a letterpress drawer but the practicality of bringing it on the airplane won out, I on the other will be making a trip back to my neighborhood antique person on Sunday to see if I find one for my bedroom. Another shop we went into on Court street had a little friend waiting for Ros to take home, a Gnome, he was grinning because he knew he was going to go live in Tokyo. Hope you make it in one piece Mr. Gnome. With the Gnome in her bag we needed to find her some bubble wrap to wrap the precious find which we did at the UPS store, where I think my new friend was totally ripped off when they charged her $4 for a yard of bubble wrap!!! But we had no choice the stores were closing soon and she needed to wrap her little garden friend up for a safe plane ride. Next and last stop Flight 001 on Smith street (there's one in Manhattan), a store dedicated just for your cute travel needs, where Ros bought a nice collapsible bag to store her breakables for her flight home. Then I walked her to the train station and said our goodbyes. Have an awesome flight home Ros!!!! See you soon I hope!

Cartes en Collage- Collage letters

2011-09-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of the books I got the other day,
かわいい手紙コラージュの本, Collage of Cute Letter, it's super inspirational. It shows you how to make your own unique cards and letters with whimsy and romance! Some of them look like a kid made them and others are more sophisticated but all are wonderful. Here are a few pics, sorry for the poor light, lots of grey skies these days.

This collage of cute letter
ISBN: 978-4-416-81126-9
Author: edited by M. statement Shinko Hall
Release Date: 2011-03-15
Signature (and how): Letter cute collage book
Type size: A5
Number of pages: 144

かわいい手紙コラージュの本
ISBN： 978-4-416-81126-9
著者名：誠文堂新光社　編
発売日： 2011-03-15
書名（かな）：カワイイテガミコラージュノホン
判型： A5
ページ数： 144

A bunting we will go!

2011-09-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

I made this little flag bunting for my bedroom, yesterday, out of sweet Japanese fabrics that have been screaming to find a place in my home decor.I thought that the flags went well with all the other triangles on my bed, like the comforter cover and the lion's mane on the lion pillow. The lighting is terrible the last few days with the cloudy skies and high humidity, so forgive the poor lighting.

oh Kinokuniya, you siren! Japanese & Korean goodness

2011-09-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a good day out for me. I went back to K-town to meet Debra for lunch at Worjip, a Korean deli/cafe. Worjip has a nice self-serve buffet bar, plus prepackaged lunch boxes and bentos. They also have a little specials area in the back where they will make the special to order and it's a set meal, usually comes with salad or pickles. Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience I didn't snap one shot, such a dingbat. After lunch I headed over to Paris Baguette, a Korean pastry shop, where again my mind was blow by the pastry extravaganza, but this time I got it together enough to snap a few shots for you lovely readers to take a peek at. I got a hot green tea latte and nothing else only because I made a royal pig out of myself at Worjip, but not to worry I had a treat there the last time I was in K-town and will again! What I loved about Paris Baguette aside from every delicious pastry was that it reminded me of all the wonderful pastry shops in Japan, like St. Honoré.

After my green tea latte, I headed further uptown on sixth avenue (avenue of the americas) to Toho, a great shop for those who like to make jewelry. Toho is a Japanese vendor who sells, findings & beads, I picked up a few little findings for some rings and necklaces I'm making, will post soon.
A few blocks away, my home away from home, Kinokuniya. I perused the aisles of crafting and came home with few books, I'm ashamed to say, only because I'm on a tight budget these days (but pleased as punch to have found these beauties). I will show you one today only because it will be an image overload and post the rest over the next couple of days. The book I'm showing you is a wonderful stamp book with the artwork of three well known stamp artists, Mizutama, Mogerin, and Yuki, Eraser stamp design can BOOK.

消しゴムはんこ図案ＢＯＯＫ
レディブティックシリーズ　３２５７　クラフト
ｍｉｚｕｔａｍａ／〔著〕　ｍｏｇｅｒｉｎ／〔著〕　ｙｕｋｉ／〔著〕
出版社名：ブティック社
出版年月： 2011年8月
ISBNコード： 978-4-8347-3257-3

Eraser stamp design can BOOK
Craft Lady Boutique Series 3257
Author]] yuki / [Author] mogerin / [Author mizutama / [
Publisher Name: Butikku社
Publication Date: August 2011
ISBN: 978-4-8347-3257-3

OH! I found these ads in the windows of my once employer (yes I worked for them but I'm not allowed to say anything negative about them because they can do some serious damage to me and mine, so I will never use their name, but you know who they are).I was disappointed and nostalgic all at the same time. Disappointed because my wonderful, dear, sweet Nakameguro is being used like a cheap whore, but nostalgic because I truly miss my wonderful, dear, sweet Nakameguro, my once home in Tokyo.

Little Korea and a tricky pooch

2011-09-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend started off with a trip to the InkPad in the West Village for some stampy goodness, and then headed up to midtown to K-town for some yummy Korean tofu stew at BCD Tofu House.
The InkPad was a bit overwhelming, so I'll definitely have to head back to take my time and really peruse, but I scored nonetheless, with these great stamps and a bag a paper goods from Just Enough Stuff, that contains lots of vintage tears from books and mags great for stationery making.

Next up, BCD Tofu house was a delicious treat indeed. When you get seated, they bring you an assortment of pickles and a fried fish as a complimentary appetizer. You can get free refills too, to your already freebee. I had the Soondubuchigae, a spicy Korean tofu stew, but they'll adjust the level of spicy to your taste. They also offer a variety from plain to pork. I got the beef one. It comes with a raw egg that you crack open over your stew and it cooks in with the heat of the stew. A sticky rice is also served to everyone even if you got a rice bowl like Bibembop. Then at the end they come and pour water into the individual rice container and stir up water left to make a rice porridge for the end of your meal, waste not want not.

The next morning we headed to the Rockaways for a chilly day on the boardwalk for the honey festival. The festival was small but there were creatures a-plenty walking the boardwalk. Best of all there was Tilly, a Jack Russell, who used her naroticism (don't think that's a word, but whateves) for good, and made art! She basically barked and scratched the bejesus out of a scratch board and then her father peeled away the cover and there were Tilly's scratches.

getting there:

The Inkpad
37 7th Avenue (between 12th and 13th streets)
NYC 10011
212.463.9876
Take the 2 or 3 train to 14th street, walk south on 7th ave to 13th and 7th ave.

BCD Tofu House
17 W 32nd st (between 5th and 6th ave)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 967-1900
Take any of the following trains:
34 St - Herald Sq (B, D, F, M, N, Q, R)
33 St (6)

Little treats from Japan

2011-09-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor, Alice, was away in Tokyo for 5 days and we were watching her cat, Max, (lil'hangry as I like to call her). Alice was nice enough to bring us some tasty treats, dango, and a beautiful piece a fabric. I did a search for dango online and came up with this awesome cooking video, "Cooking with dog!" Of course I'm keeping the gift wrap and recycling into another project :)

1963- Part 2

2011-09-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

More Ads....

Trip down to 1963-Part 1

2011-09-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

I forgot that in a pile of books for the Salvy, I had a few vintage mags that I didn't mean to put there. I found my Look magazine from 1963 with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton on the cover, Liz Taylor being one of my all-time favorite Glam-Gals. The magazine is chock-full of great ads from the 1960's, so this will be part one of this post since it's just too many goodies to post. Here goes...

These were considered portables! You can break an arm carry these around!

Oh yeah, this looks just like Italy

Poor dog is like "Are you kidding, I ain't eatin' that". I remember we
used to give our innocent dog this stuff in the 70's and I thought it was
the bees knees.

Baby franks were really for baby's, who knew!

Air Mail-new stationery, envelopes

2011-09-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

I started on some envelopes this weekend at the request of an Etsy friend, to make thank you cards, for a on a tutorial on Etsy so here's one of the envelopes so far. Hope you like it.

City Island Photographs

2011-09-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend a couple of friends and I went to City Island. City Island is a little island off the Bronx, and my friend Joe and I snuck into a marina to photograph to ours hearts content so here are some of those photographs plus other stuff on the island and a few not on City Island.

The last five photos are not on City Island just stuff I shot recently that I liked, and my dogs of course :)

East Village-Japanese Curry, a sweet, and a stamp

2011-09-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

Last night I was craving Japanese curry so I made up my mind to head into the East Village to Curry-ya on 10th street. It's a tiny counter restaurant, with fluorescent lighting and a friendly staff. I ordered the Japanese classic curry, that has a smattering of veggies and bits of beef. It was really yummy, spicy but totally edible, they will make it really hot if you like it that way. All the curries come with a little side salad. The bathroom even has a Toto washlet! I love that the lid pops open all by itself then closes and flushes for you, very hands off, nice. After lunch I wandered a bit, and went into Veniero's pastry and got a lot of delicious treats, little canolis, tiny raspberry tart, mini cream puff. Next up, down the street there is a rubber stamp store, Casey Rubber Stamps,that I had mentioned to Bee from WTWS when she was visiting NYC, it's just stamps! This place has been forever, I believe they changed owners because now there's a very sweet Asian guy working there, before it was a grumpy old dude. They make custom stamps here and they also have tons of stock stamps, I bought to usagi(rabbit)stamps.

getting there:
Curry-ya
214 E10th street
NY, NY

Veniero's
342 E11th street
NY, NY

Casey Rubber Stamps
322 E11th street
NY, NY

take the 6 train to Astor Place

Sunset Park Crafty Night

2011-09-15T07:26:00.002-07:00

My friend Nancy started up again her weekly crafting night at her apartment in Sunset Park, every one works on a project, it doesn't have to be just knitting or crochet. Nancy's husband is working on a beautiful blanket for his sister's wedding, it's all white, with two trees intertwining branches to represent two lives coming together. The trees are made from cables, pretty amazing, I'm sorry I didn't photograph I'll try to get a pic next week.

Lunch at Van Horn and looking at Papél

2011-09-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a lovely lunch with a friend, Dada, at Van Horn in Cobble Hills. Van Horn is a sandwich cafe with a southern menu, and a cute vintage modern feel. I had the BLP, Bacon Lettuce Pimento cheese, it was really yummy but I little too greasy for me. My money is on the fried chicken sandwich which I had the other night, I gobbled it up it was so good. Both come with cole slaw and pickles. They also have a nice local beer selection.

Next we stopped in at a stationery store a couple of doors down papél. Lots of cute letterpress personal stationery and cards, they also carried some washi tape! Papél, means paper in spanish.

Just joined Tumblr- Standing in New York Breathing in Japan

2011-09-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

I figure being a photographer and all, I wanted a constant stream of my pics that I randomly choose whenever the mood strikes without any explanation. You'll mostly see my pics from Japan.

Follow me
standing in new york breathing in japan

Gowanus Print Lab + Etsy= fun!

2011-09-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I jumped on my bike and pedaled over to the Gowanus, to the Gowanus Print lab where Etsy was having their open craft night with a screen printing demo and free beer. The demo was enlightening but I wished it was more hands-on. We got to print our own tees/totes with a screen already predetermined by Etsy, cute images but I thought we would get to do our own screen, guess for hundreds of peeps that would have been an impossibility. Anywho, the Printlab is pretty amazing, they have lots of screening space, a large four color screen printing machine, a dark room, a huge flat heat dryer, and they can print your acetates from digital files with a special printer, really nice.

Okonomiyaki for Real! Recipe

2011-09-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Last night after my hat post I was inspired to make Okonomiyaki for dinner, I had never made it before but it was a lot easier than I thought. I never post recipes but since it a really easy Japanese comfort food recipe I thought I'd share.

Ingredients (makes 2-3 servings)
*1 cup Okonomiyaki Flour (4 oz)
*3/4 cup water
*shredded cabbage (10 oz)
*2 stalks of scallion (green onion)
*2 eggs
*9 pcs Sliced pork belly (I used bacon)
*Otafuku Okonomi Sauce ( I used Kagome Tonkatsu sauce, since it's what I had)
*two tablespoon of cooking oil
*Kewpie mayo (optional)
*bonito flakes (optional)

In a large bowl combine the water and flour and you should have a sticky paste. Then fold the scallions, cabbage, and eggs into the mixture.
Divide mixture into 2 to 3 parts depending how many you want to make.

Add oil to medium skillet/frying pan at medium to low heat.

Add mixture portion to pan into 1/2" patty and layer 3 pieces of pork belly/bacon on top of the patty.

Cook for 3 minutes or until brown on the bottom, then flip to meat side and cook for 4 minutes or until pork is fully cooked. Flip one more time so meat side is up and should be golden and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove patty from pan.

That's it!!!Super easy! Now the fun part, top the okonomiyaki patty with okonomi sauce and garnish if you like with mayo and bonito flakes, I personally love the mayo on it.

There are many combos of okonomiyaki you can try one of these too:

Shrimp, corn, and green onion
Beef, grilled onions, and kimchi
Pork, green peas, and bean sprouts
Seafood combination: octopus, shrimp, & squid

Enjoy!!!

Okonomiyaki crochet hat!

2011-09-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

Just finished this little cap last night. I used a star crochet pattern from one of the Japanese pattern books I purchased in Tokyo on my last trip in March. I added a fun pom as embellishment that I found the inspiration in one of the recent stationery/other cute goods Japanese books. It's a pretty yellow superwash wool and I was lucky enough to have all these cute trims in yellows in my stash! I added a little pop of pink! I should actually say that I used the repeat pattern but not the hat style, the actual hat they have is a slouchy hat.

Now Amitai Hyo_2! And cute little yarn knitted goods
by Kazuko ISBN978-4-07-268091-9 C2077

Star Crochet, ISBN978-4-579-11323-1, Yoko Imamura + Star Onuma

Finished skirt

2011-09-07T06:46:00.000-07:00

The pic doesn't do it justice, it's been rainy so it's hard to take a nice pic, and the skirts a bit wrinkled but I'm really happy with it. It wasn't too hard to interpret the pattern, but you probably need at least intermediate sewing skills to understand how to put it together without reading the instructions.

Friday Skirt-Working with a Japanese Pattern

2011-09-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

I started a skirt from one my Japanese pattern books Couture Skirt Adult by Tsukiori, Yoshiko this weekend with the Nani Iro fabric I've been saving for a year. It's a beautiful charcoal double gauze with tern grey tipping. I'm using this calf-length bubble skirt pattern but not making it into a bubble skirt, just a clean edge. I'll post pics of the finished skirt this week.

大人のクチュールスカート大人のクチュールスカート
月居　良子著　文化出版局
2007年05月発行　ISBN 978-4-579-11153-4
ジャンルは、ソーイングです。ネット在庫僅少

Couture Skirt Adult
Otonanokuchiyu - Ruska - What
Appendix: patterns (2 sheets) 文化出版局
Ryoko Restaurant Mon Author
Tsukiori, Yoshiko Publisher 文化出版局

Sweets and Flowers- More Japanese Craft books!

2011-09-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

This week I made my biweekly trip to Kinokuniya and I bought a few books, along with the Kotori Kawashima photography book, I bought a crochet book, a stationery/crafts book and a graphic design cd book. The crochet book, Cute Little Yarn Knitted Goods, is filled with colorful flowery projects, from tiny slippers, crazy afgans, to pretty flower trims, I can't wait to make something. The stationery book, combines other crafts with found materials, lots of sweet projects in this one, definitely geared for gift-making ideas. The last book is part of a cd book series for graphic designers to use, this one, Sweets and Flowers

ちょっとの糸で可愛いニット小物
Hyo_2 いますぐあみたい！ちょっとの糸で可愛いニット小物
了戒かずこ著　　ISBN978-4-07-268091-9　C2077

Now Amitai Hyo_2! And cute little yarn knitted goods
by Kazuko ISBN978-4-07-268091-9 C2077

コラージュでつくるかわいい小物
ISBN： 978-4-416-31016-8
著者名：誠文堂新光社　編

Cute accessories to make collages
ISBN: 978-4-416-31016-8
Author: M. Wentang Xinguang Guide

お菓子と花の素材集Ｓｗｅｅｔｓ＆Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ
Ａｔｅｌｉｅｒ＊Ｓｐｏｏｎ著　翔泳社
2011年01月発行　ISBN 978-4-7981-2294-6

Sweets & Flowers
Atelier * Spoon by Addison-Wesley
ISBN 978-4-7981-2294-6 January 2011 issue

I also got these little stamp pads, blank cards and cute stickers, to continue my ventures into stationery.

Kotori Kawashima-Photographer

2011-08-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to stumble upon a book by Kotori Kawashima, Mirai-Chan(published 4/2011) that I wanted since reading about it in Jollygoo's blog before I went to Japan in March, at Kinokuniya today. The book is shots of her daughter Mirai-chan in her daily life, probably one of the cutest toddlers you'll ever see in pics. The photographs are raw and beautiful, high-contrast explosion of color, photography. A lot of the photography takes place in rural Japan on Sado Island, Nigata prefecture. Kawashima was born in Tokyo in 1980 and graduated from Waseda University in Japan. Her second book is a collection called Baby, Baby, recently published in March 2011. Kawashima will be showing from September 1, 2011-September 13, 2011 at Fukuoka PARCO

getting there:

Kuko Line Subway Station "Tenjin" direct exit 7
大牟田線 Nishitetsu Tenjin "Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station 'north entrance gates immediately
Now go towards the bus stop each Nishitetsu

11-1, Tenjin 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka
Phone 092-235-7000 (main)
Opening Hours
10:00 to 20:30
B1F · Oichika 11:00 to 23:00
7:30 to 21:00 Burezzu 神戸屋 B1F ·

Mogu Takahashi

2011-08-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

I recently fell in love with Mogu Takahashi's blog, a wonderful Japanese artist. I love Takahashi's whimiscal work, especially when she uses materials like cookies and clothes pins to express herself. Here are few pics from her blog you should take a look. I wish I was in Japan to see one of her exhibitions, she's showing her solo show "Kawaii Ugly San" at Cafe Drole in Nakameguro. Watch her video below it's super cute!

Getting there:
Cafe Drole
1-23-4,1F, Nakameguro, Meguro-ku
03-5722-6083
Take the Tokoyu Toyoko line to the Nakameguro station.

The Creative life of Jim Henson, Pre-Hurricane

2011-08-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend was full of scary moments, but before we battened down the hatches for hurricane Irene we had a lovely lunch at Ashbox and then went over to the Museum of the Moving Image for Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibition First of All, I haven't been to this museum since the mid-90's and it's changed so much, it's beautiful, the lobby, cafe, and stairways are all very futuristic feeling, with it's ultra white smooth surfaces and gleaming fluorescent blue lights. I felt like a was in a scene of sci-fi film. The exhibition was amazing, it's really about Jim Henson's life and not necessarily about the Muppets. How he started his career in television, how he developed the Muppets, and all the advertisements he worked on before ever getting to Sesame Street or the Muppets.One of my favorite things was a movie he made called Time Piece, very avante gard for the time and a little risqué. I highly recommend seeing this show, it's up until January 2012. Pics below from the exhibition are form the NY Times since no photography is allowed of the works, other pics of Museum interior are my own.

The Dutch and the Danes- Vandaag

2011-08-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today a few friends and I met up to have lunch at Vandaag in the East Village. Vandaag serves Northern European cuisine focusing on Dutch and Danish foods. The space is amazing, large and open, with massive window panes for perfect people watching. The seating is both booths and tables and very spacious. When you walk in you see a pretty kinderbakfiet bicycle with flowers sitting in the front carriage. Service was a bit slow but the food was good. We started with the bread basket filled with fresh baked breads, baked in the restaurant, that came with two spreads, juniper butter and eggplant lemon spread, yum! D and I ordered the Orchard Sour, which is a non-alcoholic concoction of ginger, lemon and sparkling apple cider, so tasty. Each of us order a smørrbrød (open faced sandwich) except for Michelle. I got the hen confit with radish, string beans, preserved lemon, and espelette(pepper). Debra and a friend got the shrimp remoulade with kohlrabi, lemon, and herbs. Then Michelle ordered the smoked pickled sausage and the Gravlax, which is what I wanted to order originally but I figured I should try something different. My sandwich was delicious, the shrimp ones were good except the kohlrabi seemed like it might be turning, and the gravlax and sausage got a thumbs up. They have an extensive drink menu both alcoholic and non, from teas to infused akavit and wonderful concoctions like the Orchard Sour. The staff was super nice, I think our waitress was little overwhelmed since she was working by herself. Overall good experience, I'd go back. OH! and I super loved the cutest little KLM Bols Blue Delf houses display over our table, I want one, eep!

Super sad walking to the train from Vandaag, Mars bar is officially closed as a couple of weeks but I hadn't seen it all closed up, bummer. SO long dirty old friend.

The good and the bad- Robataya and Chuko

2011-08-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went for my long overdue haircut after a long period of grow out from my pixie haircut only to have it cut into a pixie, again. I like it the best.

Anywho, afterwards I was struggling on where to eat so I went to Robataya on 9th street. This a wonderful Japanese restaurant made to look like a Machiya from the outside and like a Japanese foodstall market inside in the first room then a garden-like dining room. At night it's super lively and the sake is flowing and the meats and veggies are grilling in front of the customers. BY day, they serve lovely lunch sets at reasonable prices. I had a grill fish set, Hokko, that came with rice, soup, salad, and pickled side dish and root veggies. It was super filling and tasty. Also while you wait there's a barrel of pickles and a basket of hard boiled eggs that are free self-serve unlimited. The pickles were really good. If you are in the East Village definitely try this place out.

Next up, Chuko in Prospect Heights. So many of us have been waiting with baited breath for this place to open. It's a ramen place by from Morimoto alums Jamison Blankenship and David Koon. Apparently one of the chefs went to Japan for 3 months to study the art of Ramen, and they import the scallion from Japan. The pork is antibiotic and hormone free, also. With that said, I have to be honest I didn't like the ramen, and I love ramen. It was the saltiest miso ramen I've ever had, and I also love salty. Ippudo still reigns number one in ramen and Takumi a close second. The service was very good, they were every attentive and very apologetic for the long wait to be seated and served. Unfortunately the toilet broke around 8:30pm and people kept having to use the restroom at a nearby bar. These folks have a long way to go to get it right, but I know it was opening night and all restaurants need a chance to get their bearings, so I'll be back in maybe 6 months when it's chilly out and I don't feel like trekking into the city.

(bottom two pics by Jessica Loudis)

Peek at my hair

getting there:
Robataya
231 East 9th St. New York, NY 10003
take the 6 train to Astor place

Chuko
552 Vanderbilt Avenue
(between Atlantic Ave & Pacific St)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Trains take the A/C to Clinton - Washington Avs, or the B or Q to 7th ave, or the 2/3 to Bergen St.

Stationery Sets in my shop

2011-08-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Finally! I put my stationery sets up for sale in my shop. They are all made with my hand carved stamps. Check them out.

Handmade Stamps

2011-08-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I wasn't feeling so great so I put a movie on and made these stamps. The little stache'acorn dude was inspired by some acorns I collected earlier on my walk with my dog.

La petite fille, Miko.

Donguri-san!

M.Wells, Bozu and Dekalb Market

2011-08-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to one of my favorite Japanese restaurants, Bozu, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The whole staff is Japanese and it's Japanese owned. They make delicious food and serve homemade kajitsu-shu. Their specialty is the sushi bombs, they're like little rice patties with sushi explosion on top. Then they have three types of soy sauce/wasabi combos to drizzle on your bombs, just plain soy sauce, a little wasabi, or thick spicy wasabi with a lil'soy sauce. I haven't tried their Kajitsu-shu but I hear it's really good, I'm always drawn into their wonderful sake selection poured into those wonderful sake boxes! Don't miss Bozu if you're in Brooklyn.

(two pics below from Bozu site)

While there was still daylight on Friday we checked out the Dekalb market, it was a little dead but I'm hoping on the weekends when the additional vendors set up the place will be hoppin'. The market houses vendors in shipping containers, allowing vendors to have a permanent space but on the weekends there are additional vendors setup in tents. They also have a food court of sorts, it's a bunch of containers in a square formation with picnic benches under tents in the center. The food vendors include, a taco, vegan, tea, coffee, panini, bakery, and a donut vendor. There's also a tiny radio station that dj's some cool sounds to eat to.

Last but not least, my friends and I went to M. Wells diner in L.I.C.. This place is closing soon and a lot of people are really disappointed, because it's not just regular diner food. A French-Canadian couple (well the husband, anyway, she's from Queens)opened this place up with an interesting menu of Quebeco-American cuisine. A few of their more quirky brunch selections include an egg souflee with bonito flakes, bone marrow, and seafood crock pot. Come for brunch because dinner is outrageously expensive, $120 rib eye steak and $42 burger, but if you do decide to go for dinner, Fridays and Saturdays in August, they’re hosting Farewell Dinners at the diner. This Saturday, for instance, will be ‘Our Trip to the Fulton Fish Market.’”

Finished! Reupholstered Mid-Century Chair

2011-08-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off for about 5 years reupholstering this mid-century modern chair that sits in our living room. We recently had a wonderful mid-century wall unit installed on our living room wall and the chair was bringing the whole space down, that I said to myself enough's enough. I picked a pretty primary blue in a a toothy heavy cotton. So here are the before and after pics.

Before

After

Ashbox-photographs

2011-08-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite place to have lunch at, Ashbox, I did another post a while back about the food, this time it's just pretty pictures :)

Tanabata Festival- Tsuru Project

2011-08-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I went to the Tanabata festival-Tsuru project this weekend where my friend Aya (first one on the left in first pic) was one of the artists who helped to create all the beautiful ornaments up for sale to help Japan's earthquake victims.
Please check out their website and make a contribution. http://tsuruproject.wordpress.com/

Beach get aways-Photos Part I

2011-08-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

These are pics I took with my Nikon F3 at the Rockaways beach 96st, and Fort Tilden. Both beaches offer very different experiences although they are on the same stretch of land. Fort Tilden is quiet and secluded, and definitely preferred by the Hipsters, and the Rockaways provide a short trip to the boardwalk and water, plus there are awesome food shacks along the boardwalk, like Rockaway Taco, Caracas Arepes, Robertas pizza, and many others.

Dotty notebook and stamp carving

2011-08-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

After my trip to Kinokuniya this week I used my new supplies to make a new little notebook and I used the carving set I just got to make a couple of new stamps. Not the greatest first try but I still love the imperfection of them. You can see the label stamp at work on the notebook. I will start putting up some of my notebooks and other stationery this week in my store.

The Stationery Trinity

2011-08-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today I hit Kinokuniya, AI Friedmans, and Paper Presentation, all offer different materials for some awesome stationery making and buying. At Kinokuniya I got some MT tapes, origami paper, and a lovely stationery book, Paper Paper. Then when I went to drop off some film I went to 18th street and I picked up some artist carving blocks, for stamp making at AI Friedmans. Then across the street is Paper Presentation, I scored some kraft cardstock, stamps, gold brads, and a large circle punch hole, here! While at Kino, I went upstairs to grab an onigiri and I yummy black sesame frappe, yummmmmm...

Stamp, Hop, Stamp, Hop!

2011-08-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

Last night before going to bed I decided to make a bunny stamp. I've been obsessed with rabbits since the age of two and instead of buying one I figured it's time to carve one out! I haven't handmade a stamp since the late 90's, and I just realized that I have a bunch of stamps and stationery buried in a desk I use as a bookshelf for all my Japanese books I have to dig those out! Some I made and some I bought. I'll do that this afternoon, right now I'm off to Kinokuniya to find and MT book and see what other tapes they have.

Tanabata festival!

2011-08-02T15:00:00.001-07:00

My friend Aya and her friends have worked really hard in preparation for this event. Today Aya showed us all their beautiful work for the festival amazing draping colorful pieces with tiny paper cranes floating about. I'm attending the event and taking lots of pics!!!Come on by and make a paper crane!

Zine-tastic!

2011-08-02T06:44:00.001-07:00

When I went to Japan in March my original intention was to work on my photography portfolio and then turn it into a photo journal. When I started it I felt like I should add more information and turn it into a travel guide since I have been blogging about Japan since my first trip in 2007 I always feel like I should share my experience to help others with theirs. After four and half months I'm getting close to done. I think with a few more weeks I will be able to release my first zine. The hard copies will have special surprises in it. Here's a sneak peek ;)

Vintage Cuba

2011-07-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

My aunt and mother posted these pics of them and my dad and his family growing up and living in Cuba before coming to the States. I just love these photographs so I thought I'd share them here:

more pics here

SINCOL x MT= Amazing!

2011-07-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

all pics are from SINCOLxMT site.

MT partnered with Sincol to create these beautiful large masking tapes to decorate interiors, the possibilities are endless and so much fun. Best thing is if your living in a rental and don't want to paint or can't these will spruce up your home and you can remove it easily when you move, PLUS+PLUS! Check out the SINCOL x MT site for more info and videos on it's uses.

Etsy Craft Night

2011-07-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Last night was the Etsy Open Craft night, and fortunately I live really close to the Esty Labs so my friends and I gathered our projects and off we went! The Etsy labs are located in Dumbo and on Monday nights they hold a craft night sometimes they have a special event but other times it's an open night. The awesome thing is that they have a whole slew of Bernina sewing machines and other equipment that you can use for free plus supplies! They have tons of fabric, buttons, yarn, knitting supplies, anything you can imagine. The Etsy peeps were cool too, very nice and super helpful. My friend Heidi is making a case for her external hard drive and she never used a machine before but a friendly Etsy staff member helped her out, she was also able to use fabric and zippers from their stash. Excited to go another night! Here are a few phone pics of last night and some shots of my project, another little notebook! OH! my friend just posted this link to where to buy washi tape online and it's reasonably priced cutetape.com

Lavender Lemonade and Sweet Conversation

2011-07-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Friday we hung out with our new friend, Aya, we had lunch at Brooklyn Label in Greenpoint. All the food was yummy I had the mac n' cheese with their delicious Lavender Lemonade! After lunch we got to check out Aya's shared studio, part of the Fowler Arts Collective, which has a wonderful group of artists sharing the space. Aya is a lovely Japanese illustrator, based out of Brooklyn and her work is just amazing, adorable, and imaginative. I was happy to hang out with her and be invited to see her work in progress. Thanks Aya! Check out her wonderful work here ayakakeda.com. Pics below of Brooklyn Label, the studio, and I walk around Greenpoint.

Getting there:
Brooklyn Label- 180 Franklin Street, Greenpoint, NY
Take the G train to Greenpoint ave and get out at the India St exit.

The Perfect Summer Day

2011-07-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

We were blessed with amazing weather yesterday and perfect 77 degrees so the activities planned for the day were going to be amazing. First I jumped on my bike and headed for
a spin around Prospect Park and it was delightful, breezy and quiet. I was able to ride through the actual park by the lake and greenery as oppose to the paved roadway which is very nice but it's not a leisurely ride. Near the Audubon house a swan pair had babies and I got to see them, they are so precious. What's sad is that a cop has to babysit them because there are terrible people who want to hurt or steal them, it's happened before, but I just enjoyed them. Next, after a short pit stop at home, my friends and I headed towards Rockaway Beach. It was an easy trip on the A train, and it was really cool to travel so close to the water you could practically touch it. Rockaway Park is quite remarkable in the middle of this city a paradise. We were drawn to Beach 96 street because we heard tell of all these new food vendors and we wanted to try them out, so that was the first order of business when we got there, EAT! We all got stuff from Rockaway Taco, it was better beach food but not delicious Mexican for sure, the chips and flautas were fried in old oil so they tasted just like it, they have the potential to be better. My friend Michelle had a frozen cookie from, vegan vendor, Babycakes and she said it was tasty. Then off to the beach which is right of the boardwalk. The sand was clean and so was the water all together a wonderful afternoon at the beach.