Hurts so good!

I am a crocheting maniac! I think I've crocheted so much that I can do it while sleeping. Needless to say, my fingers huuurt! But I like it, I like it a lot...

Meet Mr. Tso and Tso. He (they?) is a Siamese Twin Cat Amigurumi Doll drawn up/designed by my awesome hubby, John and engineered/crocheted by me. He is a gift for our (soon to come out) daughter, Mayumi. We were just looking at the toys that we've amassed for her the last couple of months and came to realize that we don't have any "people" dolls or toys. And we kind of like it that way. Actually, my grandmother and my aunt gave us two little blond baby dolls at the shower last week but we didn't mind. They can be the "monsters" among the monsters. John actually sewed the faces of the cats himself and I am very impressed. He is a rennaissance man.

John also made a CD compilation for the baby. The graphics that he did was so nice (see pic below). We called the CD "Mayusic" from her name Mayumi Audris. Really, the CD was also for us. John and I wanted to see how much children's music we could tolerate. Fortunately, there are a lot of children's music out there that will not melt your brain after 2 hours of non-stop listening. Johnny Cash has a good one called, "One and One Make Two" and also this amazing (!!!) song by Dan Wilson of the Semisonics, called "Willie the King". There are a lot of revivals of classics like "Twinkle,Twinkle" and "The Rainbow Connection" by artists like Raffi and Karen Carpenter. We figured we'll start her off with something that all three of us can bear.



I am also almost done with my counterfeit handbag for stephanie's project. I just need to put a zipper on it. Here are some progress pics. The real Dior bag is pictured on the lower right hand side of the 1st photo. Stay tuned for the "real" thing...





Isn't this the cutest mobile ever! Thank you Auntie Filipinas for this amazing toy. Mayumi will be hypnotized into quiet cooing and drooling after looking up at this for a good minute or two. Seriously though, it is so cute and it matches the room perfectly.



Updated the shop with some cute little kitties. I am offering to make Mr. Tso and Tso for anyone who wants one like him, so go see the shop.

Well, I am off to felt some old sweaters from goodwill. Thank you Betz White for the awesome felting tutorial.

See you guys later.

Plastic, frozen, babies anyone?

Firstly, the internet at our house was not working the last couple of days so I haven't been able to blog (excuses, excuses!). I could have gone out to the coffeeshop for free wifi but it was raining miserable yesterday (excuses, excuses!). So to those people I owe emails to, it is coming, I promise. Thank you to the good people of comcast for coming by and fixing the problem.

We had our baby shower last Sunday. It was super fun. The frozen babies were for a little parlor game that we had (no, it's not some art piece that I'm doing to express my feelings of motherhood). The game was called "water break" or something like that and the mechanics of the game were: each guest was given a baby ice cube to put in their drink and whoever gets their baby out of the ice cube first, won a prize. This was one of the games that John was able to look up for the party (another one I wrote about in my last post). I have to give it to my very versatile, creative and fun husband. He was the organizer of the whole event and everything went without a hitch.

We were very touched by everyone's gifts and wishes for the baby. This baby is very much loved and she will have a lot of babysitters (I have everybody's name that volunteered committed to memory, so you know who you are and there is no backing out now!) (hehehe). Of course, we got a lot of baby advice and stories. The one that sticks out most in my mind was this one conversation I had with my dear Auntie Pirima (we love you!) and it went like this:

Aunt Pirima: What kind of foods did you crave?

Diana: Ahhhh .... didn't really have much of any cravings. Except, I remember eating chicken strips with coleslaw for one whole week.

Aunt Pirima: Oh ... the baby will be white.

Diana: (confused silence)

Aunt Pirima: The coleslaw... it's white so the baby will be white.

I guess there's this filipino old wives tale that if you eat a lot of something while you're pregnant, your baby will inherit a characteristic of that food. Oh, and also when Auntie Pirima says white, she means fair skinned. I am Filipino, so I'm a little bit brown and John is Caucasian so he is pink (I say pink because he does not look white to me, nobody looks white to me).

Anyway, before I end this post, I was reading my friend Natasha's blog and I read that some miserable guy was ranting about her yarn and some other people's handspun art yarns. His post was just so hostile and unfair. I've bought yarn from Natasha not because I viewed her yarn to be some kind of high and mighty patooty art. I bought them because I thought they were beautiful. And I will pay good money for something that I think is beautiful. I am not an art snob nor am I a millionaire with lots of money to blow on anything that calls out the word "art" but I am a sensible person who knows what she likes and dislikes and also knows a thing or two about knitting. I also have an art and design degree, not that it's anything to brag about, but I think that gives me a certain qualification for giving my opinion on what I think is art and what is not. I've made things with her yarn, lovely things, and they are perfectly functional and the yarn was easy to knit with. The photos below are of a purse that I made with some her yarn (the body of the purse). It is one of my favorite purses, I didn't need to make it complicated because I thought the yarn made it beautiful just by itself. The texture of this yarn is amazing! The photo doesn't show it very well but there are shades of teal interspersed with the white wool and there are parts of it that has a delicate little shimmer to it (I think it's some silk in there).





I think he was just jealous because he wasn't making any money out of his own spinning stash.

Mister Darkeros, before you dog on some other people's work, show some of your own (using your crappy camera skills as an excuse is very, very lame). Natasha has a lot of clients that can vouch for the quality of her work. Do you have any that can vouch for yours?

Crochet Mania!

I've been under a big crochet rock and have not come out to blog or do much of anything else. It all started very early, thursday, last week, when I came across this site and found Stephanie's "The Counterfeit Crochet Project". It was the crochet project that I have been waiting for. She is basically doing this art project where you choose a designer bag (like from Gucci, channel, YSL, etc.) and replicate it using crochet techniques. She is inviting crochet-ers of all shapes and sizes to take your hooks and make one of your own. I've started on mine but I haven't photographed the progress as of yet (which I will real soon). Anyway, as if the project wasn't fun enough to do by itself, she will trade you for photos of your bag (yes, just for photos) with one of her DIY, reconstructed, vintage clothing. You can send the bag to her if you wish so she can photograph it herself. Click the link for the project above to see all the cool purses that have been made or are in the making. I think the project is pretty hilarious but at the same time, it gives such a strong, serious statement against our "designer" driven culture of mass consumption. I mean, these bags are sold for hundreds (thousands) of dollars and people want them. So much so that whole markets are created to counterfeit these bags to fill the demand for people that can't afford to buy the real thing. The best parody for these bags is to re-create them using grandma's age-old crochet skills. Crochet is so homey and craftsy and so not the polished, streamlined, expensive look of these bags.

This project rekindled my interest in crocheting again. I've been looking to do a "modern" crochet project for awhile. My last (and still unfinished) crochet project is for a granny square bag (so old, so boring). So since my crochet juices are flowing, I've decided to make Mr. Potato (see above) and this little kitty...



This is what's on Mr. Potato's back ...



It reads: "I am not an old potato!"

They will be making their debut in my etsy shop soon. Speaking of the etsy shop. I have uploaded the basket backpack to the shop with all the photos so if you're curious to see how it works, just visit the shop.

I had a great time celebrating mother's day with my mom and my aunts last Sunday. My dad cooked up some great barbecue and just enjoyed the weather. Thanks to all those who greeted me a Happy Mother's Day even if I'm not technically a mother yet (2 months to go). John wasn't there to celebrate with me though, he had to leave for a business trip. Sigh... but he did leave me a great present, which was making me a little workspace in the garage to do all my craftsy things. He got up at 5am, on Saturday to clean up the ENTIRE garage to make room for a little studio for me. He is the sweetest!

Have to go and prepare for the baby shower we are having this weekend!



Doesn't baby food make great color palettes? These baby food jars don't have labels on them because they are for a game we are doing for the shower where you have to taste and guess what the baby food is. This is John's idea.

Talk to you all, later.

Bunnies are cute!

I finished some crafty things to put on my etsy shop. The photo above is a detail shot from a filipino basket backpack that I "rescued" from being forgotten all about. These bags used to be big in the Philippines but not a lot of people use or buy them anymore (unless you are a tourist). They are basically baskets that are made to function like a backpack. Really strong weaving but monster on your shoulders if you put really heavy stuff on it. I think it was inspired by the indigenous Igorot mountain people that carried these huge baskets on their backs to carry crops up and down the mountain. I found this in a little shop in SFO that specializes in Filipino goods. I was feeling nostalgic. Anyway, I've decided that it needed a little bit more personality so I've added a little bunny applique (that I made) and some cool vintage repro fabric for the lining. There will be more photos of this on the shop once I get a shot of me wearing it (so it makes more sense. Well for right now, this is it. It's a teaser.

John was so happy to get his package of Chichi's corncake mix from the mail yesterday. We were obsessed with trying to make this at home from scratch for ages. We got hooked on this corncake pudding (called tomalito, I think) after eating at Chevy's. They serve it as a side dish. So after some failed attempts to make it, fate took pity on us and after casually mentioning it to John's mom in a conversation, she told us that there is a mix available for that (the just add water type). Hallelujah! The only thing was that they only sold them in select stores in the East and Middle America. So John spent a couple of hours last weekend to try to find someone that would sell and ship it to him. Hormel did. And this is why I married my husband.

I stumbled on this new blog written by this woman who specializes in felted things and she had a tutorial for shibori felting. It is so easy! I couldn't believe it. I've been researching shibori for awhile and the best book that I've found about it in the library was for silk shibori techniques. Her name is Betz White and you should check her blog out.

Okay, so I've got to go to a doctor's appointment and have to get a move on.

Here is a parting shot. I finished knitting this clutch with Luxe yarn and it is so soft and gorgeous. It reminds me of eyeshadow from the 80's (mauves, violets, pinks, shimmery).

fishy stories or stories of fishes

I am a bad blogger. I promised myself that once I started a blog, I would write on it everyday. But...

Anyway, here is what I've been occupying myself with the last couple of days.

Friday was a fun day. John and I went to the zoo to look at animals and people. For all those who don't know, we are expecting a baby and she is due sometime in July. I thought going to the zoo would be perfect for observing parents interact with their kids. We are going to be first time parents so we need all the help we can get. We went and saw the new exhibit there featuring Visayan Warty Pigs. They are totally punk rock! The males have mohawks and some of them even have beards. They are critically endangered so for all my filipino folks out there in the Visayas, stop eating them! Come on now, mohawks don't look too tasty.

So what did we learn from our little zoo adventure? 3 things for sure: 1. Visayan Warty Pigs are not food, 2. Little girls really do like the colors pink and purple, and 3. Elephant ears (the cinnamon-sugar kind) sold next to the Asian Elephant cage are just as yummy as the ones sold in fairs or farmer's markets.

We also watched this documentary about WalMart called "WalMart: the High Cost of Low Prices". It pissed me off. John always said that I shouldn't watch sports or political documentaries because I get riled up pretty fast. Anyway, I usually don't like to talk about my politics because I don't want to offend anybody but I'm sure we all dislike cheats, liars and greedy people so for the record, I would just like to say that I strongly dislike (hate seems such a harsh word but I was 99.5% close to using it) WalMart. I will not go into it out of respect for people that like WalMart (please, for the love of god, tell me why you like them?!).

Saturday. WalMart is truly evil. They must have felt my dislike vibes because they just sent me ridiculously friendly letter (oozing with propaganda) to obviously spite me! Apparently they are trying to build one around the neighborhood and they are asking me for help (!). So as responsible citizens and mature adults, John and I decided to fill out their little checklist in the bottom to show our support.

Thankfully, my friend Natasha saved the day because she sent me some of her gorgeous handspun, handyed yarn. For all those people who are yarn and knitting junkies, you all should check out her stuff. Once you start knitting with her yarn, it will be very, very difficult not to scoff at store-bought yarn. Click here for some delicious, delicious yarn and fiber.

Sunday. John and I are just chilling at home. We finally finished "building" and organizing our home office. Yey! John is making me some tapas tonight, some bacon wrapped scallops and some thai corn fritters with sweet chili sauce. He is the bestest husband in the whole world! I will go and see what he is up to, I think I smell bacon ...

BTW, here are the beginnings of a painting that I am doing about the Dagupan Milkfish Festival. It is basically a festival celebrated by the good people of Dagupan City where the high point of the whole celebration is the grilling of 24,000 Milkfish on a 2 kilometer grill. More on this later ...



Lastly, for all you guys that need to get something off of your chest, check out this site.

Got nothing to do today but smile . . .

Yesterday was weird. John wasn't feeling well and called in sick but ended up going to work anyway (poor guy!). Didn't get much done yesterday because I had all this chores to do. Laundry gets in the way of everything! Can you imagine if I lived back in the day when they only used washboards and clotheslines. That's all I'd be doing all day looong. That's what I'd be, a frickn laundry lady (although that's not bad except I don't get paid for it).

John and I are in a bit of a book binge here. Right now I'm reading a book by Christopher Moore called "Dirty Jobs" and it is pretty funny. The plot is about this guy that owns a secondhand store in SFO and accidentally inherits the job of being a grimm reaper.

I haven't been reading a lot of books lately, I've been addicted to listening to NPR's This American Life online. I think I've listened to their whole archive (some of them twice). I've decided to stop when I've noticed that all of my conversations started with me saying "I heard this story on the radio..." I mean it gave me some interesting things to say but I was starting to feel a little one dimensional. You know, like the "Band Camp" girl in the movie "American Pie".

I still love NPR. It is way better than TV. I love Ira Glass and This American Life. And while we're at it, I love you frickn Americans! No one makes for better entertainment than you!

Back to books, everyone should go and at least look at this one other book that we found called "PostSecret" by Frank Warren. The whole book is basically a collection of postcards that people mailed back to the author, with their deepest, darkest, secrets. I guess Frank Warren, back in the day, thought of this brilliant idea to give people out blank postcards and encourage them to write/illustrate their secrets and send it back to him. The postcards were given and recieved in anonymity, of course. He just left them in a lot of public places and given them to random people. And people sent them back. The result was this amazing book of funny, heartbreaking, and sweet postcards. It's interesting to see what people consider to be their biggest secret in life. In the very end of the book, there's a copy of the blank postcard, if you ever want to send in one of your own. I might do it. You should do it.

Okay, I have to go and do some sketching and I have some ideas for things to add to my shop. I will post some photos tomorrow. If I have time, I think I will go and find some thrift stores to browse in today. My friend natasha has been finding all these great "thrifty" things and I am jealous. And I STILL have more laundry to do. I know, I know....

NOTE: The picture from yesterday is a working drawing for a painting that I will be doing soon. She is called "Manang Pasensya" which means "Old Lady Patience" in filipino.

Manang Patience (Old Lady Patience)

Manang Patience (Old Lady Patience)
Originally uploaded by liljuno22.