Thursday, April 26, 2007

More Azaleas

We went for a walk last night after dinner and I was able to get some pictures of the beautiful Azaleas in my neighborhood. Just look at all the colors!


There were some funky flowers too that I had never seen before:
And tulips of all colors!

I love this orange one:The Redbud and Dogwood trees were also very beautiful!



Springtime in DC. It doesn't last very long, but my gosh is it beautiful!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Azaleas

This is a picture from the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum's website. It's here in DC and they have beautiful Bonsai trees. This one in particular caught my attention because right now the Azalea bushes are blooming like crazy all over DC. Unfortunately, I haven't been out with my camera to capture all those colors, but I'm hoping to have some time this weekend. Maybe... What with packing and getting ready for the move to Boston on Monday, we're very busy!

When we lived in Japan, we would always go see the Azalea bushes on top of Mt. Takine in the town my husband taught at. The entire mountaintop is COVERED with bushes that all bloom at the same time. It is spectacular! You could see the pink mountaintop from miles away. OH! Japan is a truly breathtaking country, it really is. Their respect and admiration for the beauty of nature is exactly what I wish we had in the United States. Maybe someday...

Hope you are all having equally beautiful springs! :)

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Wooden spoons

I like wooden spoons. The funkier the better. I don't know why, but they feel so nice and soft when you drag them across the bottom of a pan or bowl. And quiet. Steel on steel makes such a loud, unpleasant noise, that it's nice to have a soft wooden spoon to work with.

I guess that's all I have to say today...Weird, huh?

Monday, April 23, 2007

Can you pass me a napkin please?

Made napkins this weekend. My classmates from my surface design class are all making napkins to hold an exchange. We'll each end up with five different napkins by the end of it. (It's a small class) I can't wait to see the others! I'll make sure to post all the beautiful napkins they make. Here are the ones I made:

I don't believe in white or light colored napkins unless they're only going to be used ONCE. Everyone knows they'll get all stained up and gross, right? So I dyed mine indigo with a simple shibori pattern in the center. I also mottled the indigo instead of making it a solid blue. That way, stains won't show up that easily.


I hope my classmates like them!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Best e-mail EVER!

Remember the granny book I made? Well, I just got an e-mail from my client (her granddaughter) telling me that her grandmother had received the book and loved it! She even attached photos of her grandmother writing in the journal while enjoying her morning tea. Isn't that AWESOME?!

This is my client's mother looking at all the wonderful old photos. Apparently, she didn't know who the people in the pictures were either (my client didn't know). That must have been so great to learn all that family history!!

Isn't she just beautiful? :) There's nothing more special than to see your work making other people happy. Thank you for sending me these wonderful photos and allowing me to blog about this wonderful experience!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Swamped

Swamped with work and too shocked and saddened by the Virginia Tech incident to really write anything...

Monday, April 16, 2007

Think warm thoughts...think warm thoughts...

This is a picture I took in Puerto Rico last October when my husband and I went for two weeks with my parents. It was nice and sunny and waaaaaaarm that day. Exactly the opposite of DC right now...I'd give anything to be sitting in one of those chairs!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Felt bag

I promised you a felt bag and here it is! TA DAAAAA. The picture doesn't do it justice. In person, you can hold it and feel how incredibly soft it is. I love it! It's mint green with a wispy soft white inside.

I picked just one color for the outside because I want to embroider flowers on the flap and thought it would look too busy if there were several colors going on with the roving. For the straps, however, I chose the mint green and a nice peachy color that matches nicely with the mint and white.
I made two handles. I can't decide if I should just attach them separately or if I should braid them (just twist them together) and then attach them. What do you guys think?

Doesn't the peach look nice against the mint?
I'll keep you posted on my progress with the embroidery. I've never really embroidered before, although I have all the materials, but I can't wait to try! I'm determined to make this bag look awesome! :)
I also picked up some more roving for another project. I want to roll it up (like the handles above, except thinner) and make it really really long. Then wrap it around my wrist a bunch of times and make an awesome bracelet!!! Won't that be cool? I'm still trying to decide how to connect the ends, whether with gold clasps from the bead store or what...Still have to work that out. This project may have to wait, though, until after I move up to Boston, unfortunately. Currently, I'm hoping to bind a book for my husband, make a scarf and a bandanna for some friends in Boston, and make that bag as my final project for my textiles class. ALL WHILE PACKING. I'm tired already...

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Boston here we come!

We're moving to Boston!!! You might remember that a while back, Kurt and I had gone to Boston for the weekend. Well, I was actually up there interviewing for a job. And I got it!! We're officially moving to Boston the first week of May. Kurt is already in Boston, apprenticing with an awesome painter for a month, so he went out and found us the cutest apartment! This is the living room here. On the far end, you can see French doors that open on to a sunroom type space that would be great for plants. We're really hoping to buy a house (cross your fingers!), so we don't plan on being in this little apartment for long, but it sure is cute!!


Needless to say, I'm here in DC packing. I seem to recall an article that said that one Chinese torture technique is indeed packing...it HAS to be. It is by far the worst activity known to man. When you realize just how much crap you've accumulated in two and a half years you get the urge to just push it all into a pile and burn it! Start afresh! Who invented this packing and moving thing anyway. I say we burn it! BURN IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!


...pant...pant...sorry about that...

A colleague of mine said that Boston has a lot of contact with Canada, particularly Quebec. That reminded me of the beautiful trip we took to Quebec last year. It was definitely cold up there, but very very beautiful. Just look at this blue sky!
Now that we'll be farther north, maybe we can go back and visit all those cute little shops again! Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of the new felt bag I just made!! Stay tuned...

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Memories

Yellow tulips. I love them. Fifteen years ago, when my husband and I went out on our first date, he brought me yellow tulips from his mother's garden. I still remember asking my dad to put them in water and turning VERY red in the process! I also remember how devastated I was when my mom threw them out without asking me first when they had wilted. I wanted to press them in a book, but never got the chance. Instead, I buy yellow tulips every spring to remind me of those beautiful beginnings!

Monday, April 9, 2007

Sleepy cold Monday

It's cold. Really cold here. Cold as in "it was 80 degrees last week and now it's 40 degrees" cold.

So here are some pictures to remind you of the weather to come:

Sun-hot leaves...


Doggies who ask to go out and then ask to come in and then ask to go out and then ask to come in and then...you get the picture!
Babies on trees...

You can almost feel the heat of the sun, can't you? I can't wait!!

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Arashi Velvet

Pole wrapped some velvet to see what it would do. I had originally wanted to overdye it with a fading (darker to lighter) indigo, but I think the technique I used was not the best, as you can see! You can barely see any difference in the color. Oh well. Now I know for next time! But I took it off the pole this morning and it was soooo pretty!! It took the pleats just like silk does and has a nice fuzzy feel.
Here's the back (left side) and front of the scarf (right side of the photo).
The tips of the scarf. I always like the tips! :)

I'll be posting this scarf on my shop soon. So stay tuned!

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Pretty DC

One thing I love about DC is that there are so many flowering trees. Here's a cherry tree that has fully blossomed near my work. It's a soft pink, which you can't appreciate in this photo, but against the blue sky, it's gorgeous! About a week or so ago, my husband and I planned to head down to the Tidal Basin to see the trees, but they hadn't bloomed yet. So we ended up taking a picnic dinner down by the Potomac instead and watching the sunset. It was so nice. I love days like that.
The sunset became more and more purply-pink as it grew darker.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Guest Quarters

I'd like to thank you all for your enthusiasm over the book! I'm glad you all liked it. To answer a question on how I did the gold stamping, I actually had to go over to the bookbinding studio near my house for that. They have a machine that looks similar to this one that heat and gold stamps books. I would love one of my own, but they are very very expensive. Maybe in the future!

Last weekend, my husband and I were up in Boston again. This time we stayed at a friend's house and they have THE MOST AWESOME GUEST ROOM ON.....probably THE PLANET! Everything was so gorgeous!

The lamps!
The tables!The napping, I mean, reading nook!The embroidered cushions!
The fabric hanging from the walls!!!

And most extraordinary of all...the bed!!!!!!!They really know how to make their guests feel like they've died and gone to heaven in that room!

They also have two adorable Bulldogs, Bumper and Angelina. CUTIES! They never stood still for a photo they were so excited! :)