First Friday and Furoshiki Demo

I will be the guest artist of December at Junk Evolution for First Friday. There will be my handmade bags and accessories which are able to be purchased. Those items would be perfect holiday gifts. I made new adorable purses and some other pretty things. Please take a closer look on them in your hands. I will be there from 5-9 so please come to say hi to me. I am looking forward to seeing you!

And next day, Dec 3rd, I will also demonstrate Furoshiki (Japanese traditional wrapping cloth) again. I will show how to wrap things with fancy fabrics. Wrap your gift with Furoshiki. It will make your gift very special and unforgettable.The demonstration time is 11:00-1:00.

Beaded bouquet brooch / Furoshiki workshop

This pretty beaded brooch looks like a flower bouquet is for a order from my mother in law. This is going to be a Christmas gift for someone (again, it has to be surprise so I cannot tell for whom). It is going to be given on the Thanksgiving day when we visit our relatives in Southern Indiana. So I finished it a bit early.

I used various shapes and kinds of beads. And colors as well. This project was improvisation like many of my pieces are. I am glad it eventually turned to look like a bouquet of delightful flowers. The brilliant details are suitable for a holiday gift.

 The base of the brooch is made in Japan. I brought these back from Japan years ago. The part has many holes on the top so you could embellish it with any beads and charms using beading threads or wires.

 I covered the lid of a little gift box with Japanese Origami paper. And the brooch is ready to go.


By the way, I had a Furoshiki (Japanese traditional wrapping cloth) workshop yesterday. It was a sudden offer so I couldn't prepare so many samples. But I got many good reactions. Many people were interested in wrapping gifts and making bags with Furoshiki. I am going to have another workshop on December 3rd.   There are some customers already predicted coming back to learn more.

Restoring an old day bed

One day we found an old day bed which has beautiful woodwork at my favorite local vintage shop Junk Evolution. The wood part was shabby and faded, and the seat was covered with soiled black canvas. The design looked pretty much arts and crafts style which is we really like. And the best thing for us was it was a bargain! I don't remember exact price but it was around $32-35. We grabbed it right away of course. Then Tim refinished wood part and the frame regained the beautiful color and shine. Then, it had to be sitting in the basement waiting for me to re-upholster the seat for months......

After several abandoned months, eventually I finished it. Unfortunately I cannot find the pictures of original figure of this item. I am afraid that I lost some pics when I transported my data to new PC from old one.

Anyways, I re-covered the spring with this mid-century themed upholstery fabric. I didn't have enough fabric for making additional cushions (the bed didn't have top form parts so I needed to make those) so it stayed in the basement for a while again until I get an appropriate fabric for finishing this project.

Eventually, I got this cool dark gray upholstery fabric in 50% off price (!) and made two blocks of form parts for the top.

We had a big old form in a pretty good shape. I know it looks dirty. But in fact, it is just old not really dirty. I cut it  into two blocks with the utility knife and it was amazingly easier than I thought. Then I sewed the covers.

Before starting this project, I decided to change the color theme in the living room. Yellow and Gray. Yellow has not been my comfortable color to live with. But I don't know what is happening in myself, I am getting to like this color. Red and Orange are also getting my heart too. I needed to embellish this reborn day bed. So I made some new pillow covers in Yellow.

This fantastic Yellow x Gray fabric was on the clearance wagon in the fabric store. It was only $3/yard! How lucky I was! I guess you already noticed that the pillow color is perfectly matching with my messy front yard in the color of fall maple leaves!  I just love this view from my picture windows in my living room in this season.

I had some more this fabric left. So I made a coordinated fabric panel for the wall. (Just covered a art canvas.)

The day bed is now very popular place to snuggle around. It is soft and comfortable. And also looks so cool especially from the front yard in the picture windows.

We already had the first snow here in South Bend. It didn't stick on the ground at all. But I feel the Winter is just around the corner. Winter time, it is very important to keep home very warm and comfortable. We are planning some home improvement projects for our home this Winter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you have a good weekend and stay nice and warm.

Felt Brooch and Sashiko Pouch

I made a embroidered felt brooch for my shop.

This brooch is available on my Etsy Shop now.

This Sashiko pouch was my older project. I just couldn't get a chance to blog about this. It was an order from my Mother in law. It is going to be her Christmas gift for somebody. I don't think I should talk much about this now. Surprising gift would be more fun for the recipient.

Pictures from the class

I am so happy the ring making class ended successfully. It took longer than I planned for everyone to finish the project (in fact, I feel sorry that some people had to take their project home in the middle of their work), but everyone seemed having fun to make rings in their favorite colors. The ladies I had in the class were all very charming and it was so much fun to have them in my memorable first class in  the US. Char of Junk Evolution who hosted this class prepared some tea and homemade spice cake for us and it tasted superb.

Concentrating on their minute project.

I prepared the kits in six colors and everyone chose different color. This is a white & silver combination ring which is Rose's finished piece. I hope everybody finish their rings and enjoy wearing it.

I had a great time and this event encouraged me a lot. Thank you so much for your help Junk Evolution, Char and all the students. I hope to see you again soon!

Beaded Ring Making Class @ Junk Evolution

I am going to have a class for making beaded rings tomorrow evening at Junk Evolution. I brought back ring supplies from Japan for the classes. There is a info about the class in Junk Evolution's blog. The class for tomorrow is already filled but we are considering to have another class next Tuesday again if there is more applicants. The cost is $20 and that includes all the materials you will need. If you live in Michiana area and be interested in making these pretty rings, please contact Char of Junk Evolution from their blog.

I prepared ring making kits in different colors. Participants will be able to pick their favorite color.

I am looking forward to see the class tomorrow and next week! Happy jewelry making!