Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Superman!

I apologize for not updating for so long! The weather here has been odd lately which is causing mini power outages, and that messes with my router. It's also been hot as well as rainy and my cats are trying their best to keep cool, like Panther here cooling his tummy off on the cold kitchen tiles. My family calls this his "Superman" pose. :) Not having a reliable internet connection is a bit of a pain, I've learned to prioritize what needs to be done first while my laptop stays usable.

Thanks to all the extra time spent away from my laptop, I've been doing lots of knitting. I've got plenty of hats and a few hair accessories done that will be up for sale in the September craft show! But until then I need more items for my Etsy shop as well.

Which brings big news! We will be welcoming a new member to Noraneko Alley, the new alley cat is Sam who makes wearable accessories out of those little paper lucky stars. Hopefully I'll do some collaborations with her to make cute little accessories soon.

With the time I had I managed to whip up a more colorful banner for my Etsy shop. I'm hoping to make similar pictures for each member of Noraneko Alley to use on the shop that says "Made by _member's name here_" etc. I hope the weather gets better soon...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

heart lockets


I found these adorable and super tiny heart-shaped lockets that were left over from when I bought them to make heart earrings for a friend's request, and I decided to make bracelets with them. Here is the result! A bangle bracelet with glass beads, hematite rounds, czech seed beads, and some silver-tone findings (I think they were pewter, I can't say for sure) They wrap around twice and are loose so they virtually will fit any wrist size.

I love the heart locket! It's so tiny and cute, especially the little engravings. Although I'm not sure about putting a photo in there, its so small you wouldn't be able to tell who is in the photo...

友達に頼まれてハートのイアリングを作った事があるんですけど、そのときのハートのロケットの残りを最近発見。
ちょっとブレスレットにしてみようかと。。。
小さなハートのロケットの甘辛なバングル出来上がり!
ガラス、ヘマタイトとピューター(だったような気がする。。。本当にピューターなのかな?)のビーズを使いました。
ヘマタイトってパワーストーンとしても有名ですよね?
私は単に色が好きなだけですけど。笑
それにあのずっしりとした重みがいいですね、私もよくヘマタイトのブレスレットを使ってます。

ちなみにこのブレスレット、中はワイヤーで大体どんなリストサイズでもOK!
自分以外の人のために作るときは手首の大きさを測るのが面倒だけどコレだと楽だな〜。

Monday, June 14, 2010

candle wax and cotton yarn

I managed to fix my longboard problem today :) all it took was a little melted candle wax in the pivot cups and it was good as new. I took poor Hei-chan out to cruise around the neighborhood bike paths today while it was dry in the afternoon. The rainy weather is continuing here, it rained this morning but thank goodness the sidewalks were dry by evening. I'm planning on re-painting the walls in my kitchen and family room but the rain is making me delay my plans...

Since I can't do much I bought a few skeins of Lily "sugar 'n cream" cotton yarn. I love it so much, the colors they have are closer to my taste and it's very durable stuff. I'm attempting to make a market bag from a pattern on Lion Brand Yarn available here for free. Wish me luck!

昨日のロンスケ問題はなんとか解決しました!
実は昨日、ロンスケの平ちゃんをガレージからクローゼットに移すときトラックスが以上にギシギシ音を立てていました。
溶かしたロウソクの蝋で変な音は無くなりました。
石けんの削りかすでも良いらしいです。こんなので直るのがちょっと不思議。
ちなみに今朝降っていた雨がやんだ後久しぶりに乗りました。
蝋を少し塗るだけでポンピングがだいぶ楽になりました!
でもやっぱり湿気が気になるのですぐに練習をやめて平ちゃんはクローゼットへ。。。

代わりに最近買ったコットンの毛糸で新しいエコバッグを作って気分転換。
使ったのはLily の「Sugar 'n Cream」!
100%アメリカ製のコットンでかなり丈夫な毛糸です。
しかもちょっとレトロな感じのカワイイ色がたくさん!
ブランドの名前もカワイイな〜。ずっと使ってみたかったんですけど何を作ろうか今まで決まりませんでした。
パターンはコレです。色は「カントリーグリーン」link(01222番です)
出来上がったら写真をうpします!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

doodles and squeaks


It's been a while since I drew anything on Tegaki, it felt good lol. This time I was listening to "nazonazo" by RADWIMPS, which means "riddle" in Japanese. I love this band, it's one of my favorites. *u*

自分が描きたい絵を描くのはひさしぶり。。。
いつもどうりのヴェサちゃんとシルヴェンです。
RADWIMPS の「謎謎」を聞いていたら何かこんな感じになりました。
いつもに比べたらちょっとシュールだな。

I feel I've been neglecting my poor Hei-chan AKA my longboard. I was calling it Dubhán before but over time it also adopted the names "Hei-chan," "Shizu-chan" (as in Heiwajima Shizuo from Drrr!) and "Kohe" (as in Nanamatsu Koheita from Nintama Rantarou). I've gotten used to screaming "ikedo~~n!!!!" when speeding down a hill thanks to this name.

最近ロンスケにあまり乗らなくなりました。
ずっと雨の日が続いてなかなか乗れません。
湿気を避けるためにガレージからクローゼットへお引っ越し!
気がつけばボードは友達にいろんな名前をつけられています。
最近は「平ちゃん」や「静ちゃん」、さらに「コヘ」など。。。
...I think these are pretty accurate names lol. Both male characters who go on random rampages and are difficult to stop. I love to speed but I'm bad at braking, and I've had experience where I almost ran over some drunk sorority girls on campus. My friends who come up with these names are amazing. :)

平和島静雄と七松小平太。。。二人ともすごいキャラだな。笑
私がスピードを出してるくせにブレーキが苦手と言うとこから付けられたらしい。
部活ではロンスケ歴の長い先輩に無理矢理止めてもらうときもある。(と言うより止まれなくなったときに助けてもらう)
さらに私は過去に酔っぱらいの女子大学生の集団をロンスケで引きそうになった事がある。
最近は猛スピードで坂を下るとき無意識に「イケド〜〜〜〜〜ン!!!」と叫ぶくらい。
どうしてくれるんだK子、コレじゃ私はただの変人じゃないか!?

Lately I've been having issues with extremely loud squeaking from the trucks. I tried the soap in pivot cups method but it isn't working so far. Maybe I'm not using enough soap? I'll just keep trying I guess. Does anyone have problems like this or is it just me? I use Paris 150mm trucks...

Friday, June 11, 2010

Thrift shop finds and cat naps

Last week was very busy with work, there were some visiting stores at the supermarket I work at with delicious Japanese treats! Some people from Rapopo (not sure about the spelling) and Kukuru came from Japan to make sweet potato desserts and takoyaki. I must say, it was very yummy! But it was a very busy week at work which kept me away from my laptop for a while. I'm still trying to recover and can't help myself from taking little cat-naps with my sweetie Panther during the recent rainy days.

先週はバイトで大忙しでした〜!パソコン使うのが久しぶり(笑)
日本から「らぽっぽ」と「くくる」の方がイベント来て、お手伝いをさせていただきました。
アメリカで焼きたての「くくる」のたこ焼きが食べれるなんて、何か贅沢☆
「らぽっぽ」のスティックポテトも美味でした♥♥
でも先週の疲れの性か最近パンサー君といっしょに昼寝してばっかり。
寝顔がラブリ〜。パンちゃんなんでこんなにカワイイんだ!!!

A little before the week my job got busy, I went around some thrift shops with my mom to see if we could find any neat things to use at the upcoming craft show/goodbye party for a friend. I just happened to find this adorable little picture frame for $2.

バイトが忙しくなる前に実はちょっとお買い物をしてました。
近くのアンティーク屋さんで超カワイイ写真のフレームを発見!ちなみにお値段は$2(日本では200円くらい?)淡いピンクのバラがお気に入り!

中のガラスがボロボロだったので、新しい布と網戸用のアクリルメッシュを入れてみた。
ジャジャ〜ン!イアリングホルダーの出来上がり!
メッシュの穴にイアリングフックを引っ掛けるだけ。
メッシュと布の間にはゴムを入れてあるのでフックが入る隙間はたっぷり。
意外とたくさんイアリングを付けられるし、一目で全部見えるので急いでるときにアクセを選ぶのには結構便利。
簡単に作れて机の上も可愛く♥ 今度クラフトセールで手作りアクセのディスプレイに使う事にしました。
自分用にはもうちょっとクールなシルバーのフレームで作って。。。

It's a little too 'sweet-lolita' for me but I still find it attractive. I took out the old glass and added some fabric and a plastic mesh used in windows. There's some rubber strips in-between the mesh and fabric. Why do all this? To make a display for earrings of course! Since there's space between the mesh and fabric, you can stick earring hooks in the holes and display your earrings while organizing them at the same time. It's easy to make and I have a larger one I made with a vintage pewter frame for my own earrings. It's better if there was nothing behind the mesh, that way you can put studs on there too, but small picture frames don't work that way. :( But who cares! I find these very helpful since I can choose and grab earrings quickly and the frame itself is a great accessory for your desk.

It really isn't hard to make, I suggest you try it out! :) Now I'm off to make more crafts and finish drawings that I owe some people.