A little Brooklyn Winter

a color roll to come.

Crochet Aviator Hat

I whipped this aviator hat up this week based on one of my favorite hats I bought in Japan at CA4LA. The original hat is crocheted from faux fur yarn, which is impossible to find in the States, we only have "fun" fur which is hideous. I made mine from a cute curly yarn (100% acrylic) on the body and the poms, then the little hearts on the ear flaps are a blend of 50% merino/25% alpaca/25% acrylic. I was thinking of adding this to my store, of course I will make more than one, but what do you think should I sell them? (BTW, pics are terrible because its been rainy)

Tiny Houses

I've been playing around with some air clay for the last two months and I have been obsessing about making teeny houses for display. So this week I put on my studio apron, pulled out some clay and paint then got to work. Here is the end result.

Chinatown x 2

This week I had a double Chinatown experience, the NYC Chinatown that everyone knows and gets filled with tourists on a daily basis, and then there's Flushing Chinatown which is a bit of a trek but well worth it. I went to drop of a pair of eye glasses at 88 Optical ,in NYC Chinatown, to get my prescriptions in for a mere $80 and I treated myself to veggie dim sum. Then yesterday a few friends and I drove out to Flushing for a explosion of Asian cuisine at New World food court plus there's a giant J-Mart inside where we loaded up on veggies, fruits, sushi rice, and Japanese candy! Here are a few pics:

In other News: Leather, Crochet, and Stamping Projects

I always like to present myself with a challenge to learn a new craft skill and leather crafting has been high on my list. Previously, I showcased my tiny necklace purses, but now I worked on a larger project, a cross body shoulder bag for my spring bike rides. I like to ride unencumbered by large bags weighing me down so I though, hmmmm let's make a cute bag! I used buttery soft navy blue leather and a lovely peachy tone too. I also added a little star charm on the front panel.

Another leather lovely, I made a kindle case for D, then hand stamped the beautiful silver leather with simple shapes. In keeping with the stamping motif I also craved out a giant triangle and bought some neon pink paint and made this fun tote.
I showed you this blanket in process but here's my little friend sleeping on his new blanket. I made up the crochet pattern and will share it in the near future.

This little bunny friend was sitting on a Salvy shelf waiting to be rescued. I brought him home, crocheted him a little cape to him warm and then made his basket into a cupcake pin cushion.

Part 2 of My Japan Photo Zine Series

This is the second part of my Japan photo zine, Breathing in Japan: Part 2- Winter Gardens. Its a collection of many of the lovely little container gardens I saw on my last trip to Japan during the winter months. Get it here

The Art of Sewing Zine! Available Now!

Hi Folks. Here's my new zine, The Art of Sewing, Usagi Por Moi, 10 Projects. I worked 3 months on just designing this zine that's not counting on making all the projects and I'm truly pleased on how it came out.
This is a Japanese crafts inspired, patterns and sewing zine. Sweet and easy how-to sewing book, with lots of illustrations and photographs. Make a bike seat cover, a cover for your kindle, a little stuffed rabbit, and many other projects. Patterns included. you can pre-order it here, they'll be in about two weeks.
Here are a couple of shots of the zine.

Snow Days

Twelve inches of snow for NYC, that's pretty mild for a blizzard. Analog film coming too.