Tuesday, December 15, 2009

only one more final and I'm done with school for the semester!!! woohoo!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Another Craft Show

今日のクラフトショーは無事終了!! いろんな友達とクラフトが集まりました。
私と母以外にクラフト仲間が3人。 ビーズ、ペットグッズ、手ずくりスイーツ、クリスマスのオーナメント、布小物などのいろんな物がいっぱい! 私はジュエリーと編物。。。でもほとんどこの前のイベントの残り物。。。トホホ
ついでに皆でちょっとお茶会気分。 楽しかったです。

ではちょっと母の布小物の紹介を。。。

The craft show today is finally over and everything is cleaned up! This time it was a personal event done with a bunch of friends. Most of the crafts today were by my friends and my mom. I just stuck in the leftovers from the volunteer event in the corner of the room and worked as a cashier lol. We had Christmas ornaments, cellphone straps, pet goods, cookies, organizing containers, accessories etc. Lots of people and lots of stuff!

Since most of my stuff was either already uploaded here, I'll show some of my mom's stuff. I'd love to show photos of the craft show itself but I respect my friends who may not want their stuff up on the internet.
小さな指輪方の針山。 意外と便利、特に私の家は針山で遊ぶのが大好きな猫を守るのにピッタリ。
Here's a mini pin cushion ring. It comes pretty handy at my house to keep needles away from my cat that loves to play with sewing supplies.

簡単なキルトのコースター。 
クリスマスパターンもあり、でもほとんどは母の布のコレクションから選んだ物。
Just some simple coasters.  Some of them are Christmas themed and others are simple flower patterns.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Shop till you drop!!

I just got back from shopping~! I really needed that break lol I felt so uptight this whole month about work and stuff.

I personally think I'm pretty good with shopping for groceries and art/craft supplies without straying from my initial goal. But when it comes to shopping for clothes and accessories I tend to go wayward a bit... Today I went to look for boots and a new purse but I came back with a miniskirt and t-shirts instead.

I feel like I don't have enough new crafts to upload... so I'll do sketches instead! >XD

Here's a super quick sketch of what my outfit was today modeled by Vesa, a character from a novel I am writing. And by the way, Vesa is a boy. (but I'm a girl of course lol)


今日は久しぶりに自分のために買い物に行きました!!
ちょうどいいストレス解消になったかな。
本当は新しいブーツとバッグを買いに言ったのに、なぜか買ってきたのはミニスカートとT-シャツ。。。
買い物に行くと必ず予定とは別の物を買ってしまうくせがあるみたい。

新しい手作りアクセの写真が無いので代わりにちょっとした落書きを。。。
今日私が着てた服をオリジナルキャラのヴェサちゃんに着せてみました。笑
ちなみにヴェサは今私が書いている小説のキャラ。 
実はヴェサちゃん、男の子です。でも女の子の服が似合うからまぁいっか~、描くのが楽しいし(本当は良くない)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been having some issues with gathering people to be models for my handmade accessories. Hmm, maybe I should just forget about real models and just draw fashion designs on my own. But its always fun to see other people's takes on my creations. It's a pretty big decision in my mind, leaving out the few friends who were trying to help me with the model issue.

Decisions decisions...

I'm still trying my best to prepare for the craft show in December along with finishing my portfolio for art class and managing my transfer to a new college. It's really hard to decide what has the most priority. -____-;;

Sorry about the negative post, but I thought I should at least update my blog so I wouldn't abandon it altogether (which can happen when I feel too overwhelmed with stuff to do)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Fundraiser Update


Woohoo!! The fundraiser was a pretty big success! We went over our goal in raising money to buy phone cards for soldiers overseas (so they can contact their family and friends) as well as writing some holiday cards for them. A small portion of what I raised at my booth is also going to PACT Humane Society to help pay for everyday needs for rescued cats.

I'm almost out of merchandise lol. I'm very happy that it went well but that also means I don't have much stuff left over to use in my next craft show event. Uh oh... time to get crafting again! (But I really need to work on my portfolio for school too urgggghh)

At the craft fair I snagged a pumpkin pie (shared it with a friend, I'd never be able to finish a whole pie), a necklace, and holiday earrings made by my partners at Noraneko Alley on etsy.

Thank you to those who were able to make it to the fundrasier!! :)

昨日のクラフトフェアーのイベントは大成功! 
ゴールの金額を超える寄付金を集めることが出来ました。 この寄付金は海外にいる兵隊が家族や友達と会話が出来るようにテレフォンカードに変えてから送られます。 
イベントで子供たちは“兵隊さん”に送るクリスマスカードを一生懸命書いてました。実際どの人に届くかわからないのであて先の名前をどう書いたらいいか迷っている子もいました。可愛かった!笑

私のブースの売り上げの一部はPACT Humane Society で捨て猫、野良猫、そして飼い主に虐待された猫などの保護、世話などに使われます。

イベントが成功したのはとても嬉しいけど次のイベントの分の商品がもうほとんど残ってない! ちょっと焦ってます。。。(ってゆーか先に勉強をしないと)

イベントでは隣のベイクセールで買ったパンプキンパイを友達とテーブルの下でこっそり食べてました。笑
ついでに友達が作ったハートのネックレスとクリスマスのオーナメントのイアリングをゲット!


Friday, November 13, 2009

Tomorrow!

Wow, the craft fair is tomorrow!!! I can't wait!

On another note, my mom and a friend of our family decided to hold another small event in the beginning of December and they said I could bring a few things along too. Yikes, that's even more crafting!

I know I should be focusing on classwork and such but crafting is too much fun to give up for a long period of time. >XD

ついに明日はクラフトフェアー当日です! 緊張するけど楽しみにしてます。

来月には母と友達がまた小さなクラフトのイベントをすることになりました。 
ついでに私のクラフトもちょっとだけ出すことになってます。
本当は勉強をがんばらなきゃいけないのに頭はイベントに何のクラフトを持っていくかでいっぱいです。
うぅ~ん、来月まで体が持つかちょっと心配。。。

Monday, November 9, 2009

More and More Stuff!




The craft fair fundraiser is this weekend, YIKES!!! I'm totally not ready!! DX<
いよいよクラフトフェアーは今週までせまってます!
ぜんぜん準備が足りないよ~ぅ!!!涙

But I did finish a few new things, so here they are!
でもとりあえず出来上がった物は紹介しておきます。笑

Thursday, October 29, 2009

friends




Some co-workers of mine came over today and we took a few photos. I gave them a blue Totoro keychain that I made with felt. I don't think I would be allowed to sell those at the craft fair anyways lol.


I gave her a hat I knit for her birthday. :)
バイト仲間の誕生日にハンドメイドのニット帽をあげました。 気に入ってくれたかな〜? 同じデザインの帽子をこんどクラフトフェアーに持って行くつもりです。

Sunday, October 25, 2009

fuzzy and red

A new scarf! It looks very full but is actually lacy if you look at it up close. But I still want a fuzzier look... I'll have to experiment more lol. That's me in the photo by the way. I'm terrible at taking photos of myself. I can't wait till I can grab some friends to model for me instead.

やっと新しいマフラーが出来ました! 動物好きな私にとっては本物のファーはあまり好きではありません... 写真のジャンパーも、もちろんフェイク。 代わりにちょっとファーっぽいニットを研究中です! う~ん...まだフワフワが足りない!!! (ファーとゆうより毛虫っぽいかも)


あ"~...やっぱり自分の写真を取るのは苦手です。 今度、友達に無理やりモデルをやってもらうつもりです!笑

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Necklace


I made a simple new necklace with a sterling silver feather charm and white, pale blue, and dark blue glass beads. I love things that are simple and casual, they seem to be good for any outfit for regular wear.

また新しいネックレスを作りました。 カジュアルでシンプルなアクセはいろんなコーデで使い回しが出るので好きです。 今度は三色のガラスビーズとシルバーの羽! 次は何をつくろうかな~。。。

Monday, October 19, 2009

felt sweets!

I'll be updating with felt items today! Here's just a few little things I whipped up.
今日はフェルトのクラフトを紹介しま~す! 簡単で短い時間にできるので皆さんも試してみてはどうですか?

A pink donut cellphone strap! It's hard to tell in the photo but the bead sprinkles are red and gold colored.
ドーナツのケータイストラップ! 

A simple strawberry mousse cake magnet. The sheet magnet used on the back is stronger than I expected! I threw it at my refrigerator and it stuck to the door pretty well. It didn't fall off either. I think this magnet brand is a keeper lol.
イチゴのケーキのマグネットです。 表はフェルト、裏はマグネットのシールを貼っただけ。
でもそのわりにはけっこう強いマグネットです。 遠くから冷蔵庫に投げつけてみたらちゃんとくっつきました(笑)Here's a blueberry mousse version of the cake magnet. :)
ケーキマグネットのブルーベリーバージョン。

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I've put up a tool on the side of the blog for those who are interested in going to the craft show. There's a map and details on the time and date. You can also share this blog on twitter and facebook (which will be a big help to us! lol)

Hope to see some new faces there! ^^

11月に私が参加するクラフトフェアーの説明と地図をサイトの左側に乗せておきました。 興味がある方はぜひ見に来てください! あと Facebook と Twitter のアプリケーションをつけてみました! 

このクラフトフェアーは私の友達が行ってる協会の敷地をかりてやるもので、商売ではなくボランティアのためです。 お金は子供のための協会のイベントや他のボランティア団体に寄付されます。 私のブースからの利益はいつも私がボランティアで通っている PACT Humane Society とゆう動物保護団体に寄付する約束です。

去年も参加したのですがバイトの予定でブースは友達に任せてしまった私。 今年ははじめてこのクラフトフェアーにちゃんと出ます! いろんな人に会うのを楽しみにしてます!!

~マキ

Friday, October 16, 2009

Earrings!!!

So, I've changed the title of this blog to fit it better with my etsy site called Noraneko Alley, which basically sums up the relationship of me and my friends who co-own the shop lol. Noraneko means alley cat in Japanese (my primary language), and we are really like alley cats. We all go at a different pace and like different things... but we sometimes hang out in the same "alley" and just chill. Sometimes we're friendly to each other and sometimes we're not, just like cats.

Anyways, lets get to the main subject of today's post: earrings! I love wearing earrings as well as making them. They are very simple and easy projects that are very forgiving when you want to be experimental. Here's just a few I've made recently for the upcoming craft show. I won't be selling these on etsy because I really need to save enough individual pieces of merchandise for that weekend and I've been slacking on crafting because of midterms. These are little cheap earrings for everyday wear, maybe $2 or $3 each?


ガラス、貝殻とワイヤーで作ったシンプルなイアリングでーす。 ちょっとシンプルすぎたかな...?

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Still Alive!

ACK! I've seriously been neglecting this place too much lately. Now that midterms are over, I want to start showcasing a bit of stuff for an upcoming craft show for my friend's church fundraiser.

I'll hopefully have lots of pictures soon! I'm making necklaces, bracelets, earrings, scarves, hats and whatever else I can think of. I'd love suggestions if anyone has some. :)

Monday, June 1, 2009

KITTY!

So my brother is away and I've been watching one of his cats for him over the weekend.















Isn't he adorable? His name is Panther. I actually fostered this guy when he was just a kitten for a local humane society where my brother ended up adopting him from. He used to be small enough to fit on the palm of my hand...

and NOW look at him! I put a tissue box next to him so you get a better idea. D8< Yikes! I wonder what my brother's been feeding him haha.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Greetings!

Hello! I've decided to move my old sketchdump on livejournal to here. This is a blog where I share sketches, work-in-progress illustrations, and crafts that I love to do in my spare time. I might also update with little snippets of a novel that I am currently writing.

Thanks for looking! :)