by craft and cunning

Sakura Matsuri 2011 in D.C.

2011-04-12T22:59:00.001-04:00

I'm finally ready to blog again. So much has happened in the last year, good and bad, but I haven't had the time to devote to crafting or blogging. I've poured a lot of thoughts into my writing though, and it has been both cathartic and therapeutic. To ease back into things, I'm posting pictures from the 51st Annual Sakura Matsuri in Washington, D.C., from last Saturday. It was also the 99th anniversary of the gift of the trees, so next year is the centennial! I hope my mom will come out for that ... (hint, hint)

One of the featured crafts ...

Akiko Greene, a professor at Japanese Doll School Headquarters

Gorgeous craftsmanship

Some games and demos ...

Adorable girls demonstrating tea ceremony

Martial arts including kendo, aikido, kyudo, etc.

The cutest Go group I've ever seen!

Some performers from Japan and New York ...

AUN ... twin brothers with amazing skills!

A youth drumming group


Reni Mimura with a volunteer (Taran was too intimidated to pose with her) ... and an amazing magician

A group from New York who does samurai demos and scenes

Overwhelming feelings of goodwill and charity ...

Japan Society ambassadors collecting Japan Relief donations ... they were so sweet!


A wishing tree with the cutest ice cream wish and ours for world peace

Here we are ...

... standing under a torii. Try as I might, I can't look tall next to Taran anymore!

He's cute even taking a break to eat his bento from Kushi!

And, of course, the trees ...

It's been so cold, many of them were only starting to flower!

One of the most beautiful trees we saw

I'm so lucky to have a husband and son who enjoy the same things I do. We spent all day in D.C. despite the cold weather and overcast sky. It was well worth it, especially for my son, who got so into the spirit of giving that he gave away all my cash to the Japan Relief volunteers! It's a great cause though, so I didn't mind!

Our love and thoughts are with you, Japan, and also to our friends, the Tamadas, who moved back in December. We miss you!

Remember your dads ...

2010-06-20T12:03:00.002-04:00

... because they're important too!

The card I made for my husband at 1:30 this morning ...

... the inside with the words blurred out because it's private!

The string art sculpture our son made for his dad's desk at work.

We went green again and upcycled one of the boards Taran broke for tae kwon do. We keep all the boards, and I think we're going to make a lot of these sculptures this summer. I did the hammering, of course, and showed Taran how to do the stringing. It took 10 minutes, but I think it turned out great!

If you like the string art, I'll put up a tutorial later. It's very easy geometry actually, so even math-phobes should like it, I hope.

Happy Father's Day!

Teachers deserve ...

2010-06-15T10:36:00.003-04:00

... a long summer vacation, a huge thanks, and, if at all possible, handmade gifts!

Some coasters made of I-cord.

Nick, Taran, and I all worked together on this project. Sure, we could have bought each teacher something, but what better way to be green and gifty than to use my yarn odds and ends to make coaster sets for my son's teachers? I backed them with cork so that they'd stay put on a flat surface, and I stuck to acrylic yarns so that they'd be a bit more stain-resistant and easier to spot clean. Maybe I'll put up a tutorial later ...

Even as crazy as life gets, it's very important to show our underpaid and often undervalued teachers our gratitude for their hard work and dedication. Most are in the profession for love and not for the money, believe me. Thank a teacher today!

A missing month

2010-06-09T13:53:00.000-04:00

I should know better than to try to do anything in May when the school year is winding down. Between finals and standardized tests, I may as well think of nothing but school from about May 10th to June 10th. My apologies for having a month-long lapse!

Still, I did try to keep a little creativity going, even if I didn't get to my projects. Armed with colorful permanent marks, some free RECYCLE stickers from the library, my netbook, and the occasional 10 minutes to eat/breathe/nap, I proceeded to customize my laptop.

I think it turned out pretty well!

Detail of upper left corner ...

... now the upper right corner ...

... then the bottom left corner ...

... and finally the bottom right corner.

I put clear packing tape over it to prevent fading and scuffing. This was so much fun that I want to sticker everything and decorate with my markers. Permanent markers are surprisingly versatile! I'll be back to craft posting by this weekend ... I hope!

Three things I absolutely love

2010-05-09T16:30:00.000-04:00

In no particular order:

1. My husband, who's humoring me

2. Our son, who has matching dimples

3. The Eugenia Kim hat from Target I got for Mother's Day

Now that I have batteries again, I'll put up my next craft post soon though it won't be for Mother's Day anymore. Remember to call your mama and tell her you love her!

Happy Mother's Day!

It wasn't a fortune, but ...

2010-05-02T00:21:00.001-04:00

... it was good anyway!

The three of us went out for Chinese food today and, in all our visits to the same restaurant, I have never received an actual fortune. Today was no exception, but I had to laugh and share what I got from my cookie because we were in the middle of a discussion about writing, art, and creativity when I read my fortune. How apt!

My husband and son got the same "fortune" too, and we wondered if the bag contained only the one kind or we just happened to get three of the same. My son said he thought the latter possibility was more likely. My husband just laughed and said he wasn't that creative, claiming he was just a "consumer." (He's wrong.) I wish I could send out this fortune to all you lovely "producers" out there! Craft on!

Tutorial: Craft with office supplies, part 2

2010-04-29T20:51:00.004-04:00

Busy, busy, busy ... Is there no end to the things I have to do? I had originally planned to put this up on Monday or Tuesday, but it's now Thursday. At this rate, I might not get my Mother's Day craft up in time for anyone to actually make it! Well, but this craft might do ...

I always seem to end up with more envelopes than blank cards by the end of the box, so I have a lot of loose, assorted envelopes. You can make new designs or use the designs from the first installment of this craft to personalize your stationery.

Open the flap on one of the envelopes so that the glue side is facing up.

My son graciously helped me out here again by measuring a line about 2.5 cm or a short inch from each edge of the flap. This is important because most handheld punches have a limited punching range, and that measured line is about the maximum range for most of them.

This is how it should look after drawing in the measured lines. When you plan your design, every circle must lie within the innermost line or your handheld punch won't reach it.

If you want to make matching stationery, measure a line the same distance from any edge (excluding the folded edge) that you want to decorate. I chose the right side, but punching along the bottom, the left, or any combination of the three sides will work.

a) I used a nickel this time and traced contiguous circles. I tried to keep the circles far enough from the edges and the glue so that my design would be contained in my boundaries but not cover all the glued sections. You want to be able to seal your envelope afterward!

b) Using the guides I'd drawn, I drew in my circles for the punches, making sure to stay on the edge side of my lines.

Here are the closeups of the patterns. I wanted a scalloped pattern for the envelope, and a sine curve for the notecard. I don't believe that stationery necessarily has to match, so I'm very sorry if you prefer the designs to be exactly the same!

After punching, here are the envelope and notecard. Not bad!

I chose to back the patterns with lilac-colored paper.

Another design I made with just the 1/4" and 1/8" punches. My mom loves sakura, so I think I'll send her the one on the right for Mother's Day. I backed the designs with pink paper, but I considered doing some in white and some in pink. I'll show how to make the cherry blossoms next time in my final installment for this craft. I was also thinking of putting all my designs in an image file for download or for printing. Let me know if you'd be interested ... enjoy!

Tutorial: Craft with office supplies, part 1

2010-04-23T23:07:00.008-04:00

I've had a rough week. No details, but I'm just plain exhausted. Still, I want to share with you all the fun I've been having as I straighten up my school/office supplies. As the end of the year approaches, I take stock of what I need to get for the next school year, and I always end up with way too many index cards. They're always on my son's supply list, but I'm the one who ends up using them. Why not have some fun with materials you probably already have on hand?

Examples of some lace patterns you'll make to use in this craft and in the next few installments.

Most people have these supplies, and you're not limited to just loose change. Any small object with an interesting shape that you can trace will do; I just like circles. Circle rulers, by the way, make my life so much easier. The protractor is optional since it all depends on how complex a pattern you want to make.

a) Measure out and draw a line down the center of one card lengthwise.

b) Trace around your object. My son used a quarter for the first strip and a dime for the second.

c) Draw two perpendicular lines through the center of the circles to divide them evenly into quarters if you want to plan out your design like I did. Some planning is good, but I do get a little obsessive.

d) You didn't believe me? Look at what I did with my two circles! Use the circle you traced and the lines inside as guides to placing your design. Have fun with it!

Tip: Don't draw your hole punch circles too close together or the circles won't be distinct when you punch them out.

Line up your punchers and punch away!

Punched and flipped over to hide the pencil marks. If you want to make yourself a pretty bookmark, just erase the pencil marks so that it doesn't matter which side is facing.

Here are two simple ideas for using your new designs. Fold one exactly in half to make a place card for your next get-together. You can make different designs for each guest. Or fold one a little shorter on one side, back with colorful paper, punch another hole close to the folded edge, string with ribbon, and you have pretty little gift tags. I know you might be able to make some of these with Cricut and fancier punches, but I thought these turned out pretty well. If you have a steady hand, you can punch out multiple cards at one time easily. Enjoy!

Spring should be like ...

2010-04-20T02:31:00.008-04:00

... this:

I love spring. I love flowers. And trees. And cats. Alas, I'm allergic to almost everything on that list, and in order to survive, I've been taking new allergy medication. I feel like I've been trying to work through a fog, so I'm switching back to Zyrtec. It's not as effective, but at least I can concentrate to craft and blog. In fact, a new craft post will be up in a day or two!

And if you're curious, the doodle above is a ballpoint sketch I scanned in, cleaned, and colored in Photoshop. I randomly doodled over the last week and a half that I've been on the new medicine, but I couldn't muster the energy to color them old school. Two crafty doodlers whose blogs I really enjoy and gave me inspiration are Kuky, whose pen sketches are just adorable, and Zakka Life, whose blog is filled with cute, fun ideas. Please visit them and say hello! They're really sweet!

Book Review: Edging with Beads ... Vol. 1

2010-04-10T13:32:00.010-04:00

Title: Edging with Beads by Crochet & Needle Vol. 1
Author: Nishida, Midori
ISBN: 9784766120691
Recommendation: High ... if you aren't daunted by Japanese craft books or decoding charts and diagrams, and you have decent crochet skills. Meh, I'd recommend this book anyway!

Hello! I'm a fan of Japanese craft books and have a growing collection. On my trip to New York last week, I stopped by the Kinokuniya on The Avenue of the Americas and picked up five more. This was the first one I wanted to try from that batch, and I've already completed four of the designs in the book. There are 18 different designs as well as ideas on what to do with the pretty trims you make. The instructions are in Japanese, but if you can read charted crochet and diagrams, you'll have no problems following the patterns.

Each design has a box in the back with information.

a) The first line under the header gives recommended thread or yarn for the project, including thread weight and color; the second line gives the number of each type of bead and colors; the third line gives the recommended crochet hook size.

b) An example of a charted crochet pattern.

c) A review of which crochet stitch the chart symbols correspond with.

These are two of the ideas on how to use the trims in the book.

These are some of the materials I used.

These are the projects I completed. I thought they were pretty, yeah? I can't wait to use them!

I highly recommend this book if you'd like to spice up your crochet skills and your clothes or home. Each was easy to take with me to work on in the car--not while I was driving, of course!--or whenever I had some downtime. I've already put the second volume on my "Must have" list, and I'm sure that the sequel will be as fun and as satisfying as the first. Now I'm off to make more ...

Less talk, more do

2010-04-07T22:37:00.009-04:00

I'm finally getting around to having my own blog, where I can post my craft-related projects and musings. I've enjoyed browsing other blogs and commenting, but it's about time I got myself a home too. If nothing else, since I'm always in the middle of at least three other projects, maybe having a blog will focus me.

Well ... probably not.

Looking forward to being active in the blogging community! My first actual craft post will go up soon, so stop by again!