Friday, February 27, 2009

Looking out for sun...

It went up to 60 degrees today; although not exactly balmy due to overcast, it was still very pleasant. However, the forecast for tomorrow is 38 degrees! Bummer bummer... While taking a break from work [luckily at home], my house plant [fortunately taken care by mom who has green thumbs] and I peeked out the window. I have no idea what it's called, even though I saw the same plant with an identifying tag at the U.S. Botanic Garden near the Capitol. Theirs were nestled in two huge pots near the entrance one summer. I made a note of the name and promptly forgot it. In any case, I thought it was quite endearing how the short stalks all leaned towards the sun, just as I was, looking out for the spring to arrive.

















Saturday, February 21, 2009

A humdrum day...

As days seem to blend in together, as we wake up and do the same old things, we wonder and lament about repetitions in life. However, at times we take a moment to shake it off and think, "Hey, wait, there was something..." Usually at the end of the day, when we sigh and think ah, there goes half of our humdrum weekend... But when we take a moment to reflect this is what we forgot about the day:
  • Bright neon index cards:: made Gem's Health Class flashcards quite awesome!
  • A set of colorful Uni-Ball pen set:: got Gem to write flourishing words in Korean+English!
  • Left eye glasses in the car after forgetting to exchange them with sunglasses:: checking out blurred faces during Mass was quite interesting. Couldn't see frowning or dozing faces and had fun trying to figure out "who's that?"
  • Picked up Mad from her best friend's house after their work on a project:: Mad did a hilarious impersonation of Favee cradling a lacrosse stick when we got home. She loves her best friend; we could tell.
  • Chocolate cupcake made by Gem:: with a cold glass of milk made my tummy happy!
  • A bowl of goldfish crackers:: had a whole bowl all to myself after girls went to bed and not thought about calories or expanding waistline.

Well, what do you know? I couldn't possibly call today a humdrum kind of a day, after all, could I?

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Thinking of spring

Due to the fair [considering it's still February] weather, the daffodils are trying for air. Our daffodils are among the latebloomers in the neighborhood. I didn't notice them until I searched for their tips, less than 1/4 of an inch above the ground. I searched for them only after I overheard a lady before me at the supermarket line talking to the cashier about how much her daffodils came up.

I want spring to be here soon... really soon.

In that vein, I made two pincushions for my shop. One with an iris to bringforth the spring and another of a basket, inspired by a similar one in a Japanese zakka magazine. Perhaps the thought of a basketful of irises prompted it...



Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Although I've always loved these conversation hearts, I haven't bought one in years. My girls never liked the taste [I don't either] but I was totally happy to find a box of it in my mailbox at work. What a pleasant surprise from a co-worker; she gave one out to everyone!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Pincushions

The gusty wind is rather threatening outside... We are comforting ourselves with chocolate [never fails] cake. Mad's birthday cake leftover... ^.^
I also made some pincushions over the weekend. An inspiration [well, of sort] came to me while driving at night, thus titled it "night street." However, the street light looks like showerhead. And the median strip looks too large compared to the street light. Okay, I could say this is a prototype. ;)



I also made a medium sized one to resemble a traditional Korean thatched roof cottage. People used to grow large, round gourds on the roof top. In the olden days, these would be halved, emptied, dried and used as bowls. I always liked the look; just as I always loved the climbing roses on the door way of an English cottage.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Valentine's day treat for my class...

Since today is the Sunday before Valentine's day. I decided to put together small goodie bags for my First Communion class [skipping sugar high party]. I have the largest class this year with 34 students!
I made some reusable fortune cookies with stiff felt. I was hoping for red, pink, and white but the craft store ran out of red and pink! Added a fortune with special note from me...

Added some candy and notebooks...

Packaged in favor bags and tied them with two different cotton yarn to distinguish boys' notebooks from girls'...

Kids loved them!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Is this an addictive behaviour?

I can't seem to stop myself from making matchbook notebooks. I love the combination of rescuing the unused portions of computer printouts before recycling the rest and making some cute usable notebooks out of them. Since the supply never seems to run out, I can't seem to stop!


[These are not all!]

There are many tutorials available on the web like here and here. I made my notes square because it was just easier to measure and cut with my paper cutter. For the cover, I used cardstock quality paper gleaned from old calendars, greeting cards, and even snack boxes. I add them to gifts or favor bags [especially girls, young and old, love them!].

Monday, February 2, 2009

Super Bowl!

I actually watched Super Bowl last night. Okay, okay, I initially watched for the ads [huge disappointment] and then for the half time show [so so]. However, the fourth quarter got so exciting to watch! Even though my girls were so skeptical about my wanting to watch Super Bowl...

A few days before Super Bowl:
Me: Hey, Gem, are we watching Super Bowl this year too?
Gem: Super Bowl? I guess. What do you mean this year too?
Me: Gosh, don't you remember last year we were up till 1:00AM or so to finish watching the game?
Gem: Um, umma [mommy in Korean], that was baseball. World Series, remember?
Me: Oh, it was?

Tune to conversation with Mad at the Giant [local food market] on the day of the Super Bowl:
Mad: I don't understand your sudden interest in Super Bowl umma.
Me: Well, I think we watched it last year. [My family was never football watcher.]
Mad: Are you sure? Oh, maybe you like the ads. I liked the ads I get to see afterwards on YouTube.
Me: Yes, that's it. I LOVE THE ADS!
Mad: Why are you getting so many [two] bags of
Tostitos and bottles [two] of salsa?
Me: I think you are supposed to eat these when you watch football.
Mad: [Rolling her pretty eyes] Well then. I think we need Mountain Dew to go with them. [A big grin - knowing she could get away with it!].
Me: Oh, okay, sure.
Mad: BTW, do you know the rules? [She doesn't know them].
Me: Yeah, of course... You just have to run the opposite way to take over the other team's territory. Um, isn't that right?
Mad: ?!?!?!?! [I think she was chortling...].

In any event, it was truly exciting last 10 minutes of the game even for a novice like me!