christmas trees at ikea

last month I made a trip to ikea to get all the cookware and other things to make thanksgiving dinner.

it's the first year I've seen them selling christmas trees, little live ones that 'flat pack' (are tied up so that they are basically just 1 stick). and, if you bring your tree back after christmas, they will give you a voucher for the cost of it.

there are a few wacky japanese 'christmas' 'traditions'; it's nice to see trees. I don't think I'm going to get one, but I'm sure this option makes many foreigners in japan happy. good job, ikea.

train leaving the station

how is it already december? anyway, here we go! this is the train i took after work today.

i haven't tried to blog daily for quite a while now, but i was just thinking i'd like to do that again, and also show more photos from my daily life here in japan. and then i saw that nablopomo's theme for december is zeitgeist, which is perfect!

of course, i'll keep posting about crafty artsy and japanese goodies of all kinds. what about you? what kinds of posts would you like to see more of here? i'd love to hear from you in the comments.

muji wooden blocks, the new felt cafe japan design shop, and 30 days of daily posting!

i am so excited to tell you that i redesigned the felt cafe japan shop, and it's now right there on the felt cafe japan website. also, it's full of these wonderful wooden block sets from muji! the supply of these wooden cities (and countries, and modes of transportation) in a bag is severely limited.
kyoto, including daimonji mountains.
tokyo, with the tokyo tower, and the temple with the big lantern in asakusa.
new york, love the guggenheim.
london, including the gerkin.
barcelona has the barcelona pavillion by mies! love it.
italy, including fiats and gondolas.
railroad station
and safari animals, in the cleverest little habitat box ever.

it was fun to do a little web design, and i have to give a shout out to squarespace. even though i am an abject beginner, eventually i could figure out what was and was not possible, and how to make what i wanted, and in the end feel like i learned something. woot.

and, today is my last day of daily posting for november! i did it! any other nablopomo folks out there? i really have enjoyed getting into the habit of daily posting, maybe i will try to keep it going for december. i feel like i have 30 more posts in the back of my head already!

a little scattered, but with big plans

recently, i've been quite busy. but this weekend i have plans to do a big shop update...
and share a whole bunch of new items that i haven't had time to photograph during the limited number of daylight hours i've been at home...
and restock my shop with other things that have been flying out of it!
and get ready for next week, when i have a craft-loving friend coming to visit me! we going to take a japanese cooking class here in kyoto, and make thanksgiving dinner (and maybe thanksgiving bento in the unlikely event of leftovers) and visit some pretty places. and maybe have some time to relax at the kotatsu and do some knitting.
and maybe, i'll even get to the craft project i've had rolling around in the back of my head to use these chirstmas masking tapes! ahh, i can dream, can't i?

(christmas tapes and paper clips are in the shop.)

totoros part I

look! cute little totoro stamps! this set of 4 come with their own stamp pad, in a little case.
and this one has 2 totoros with dandelion seeds. these stamps are all in my etsy shop, and there is more totoro cuteness on the way for tomorrow...

felt, fall, leaves and scarves

elena from the etsy shop odds and ends always creates amazing and inspirational felt work, and this scarf is gorgeous!
this handknit rainbow scarf is from namolio, doesn't it just look so snugly?

this project is from raspberry fairy on flickr, and i saw it in this collection of felt leaf garland crafts, which i heard about thanks to the long thread.

ok, so to be completely honest i feel like winter is already here, or at least around the very next corner. and i am certainly already thinking ahead to some crafting for the december holiday already. but first, i wanted to take a moment to share some lovely fall and felt projects i've come across recently. and besides, the height of brilliant fall leaves here in kyoto is still a few weeks off!
ok, this one is wintery, but they are wearing red scarfs! and they are soooo cute. they are made by jesse from all things small, which is her darling shop filled with wee creatures.

happy halloween and happy november

on friday i did some paper/card/stamping crafts with my students (i have a part time job teaching conversational english to japanese adults, mostly). these were the stamps i carved, which were super fun. they are carved from soft eraser-like rubber that is sold for that purpose, and i want to make more; it's such a satisfying and quick (well, depending how detailed you get!) craft.
halloween has become popular relatively recently in japan, maybe in the last 5 years, and it come as mainly a commercial event, where stores put up decorations and sell lots of pumpkin themed products. there's no trick or treating, and no pumpkin carving (you can buy imported american pumpkins at foreign groceries for $25, and japanese kabucha are too hard to carve, trust me. if you are in japan and feel the need to make a jack o lantern, i recommend using a turnip like they did in the original olden days). anyway, i had fun explaining the meaning of 'boo!' as opposed to booing an unpopular sports team.


and happy november! i've decided to give nablopomo another go this month, the classic month for daily blogging. which i think will be great, since recently i feel like i have so many projects i want to try, and things i'd like to share here. and some goals around the theme of becoming more organized and disciplined. back in college the first time, i remember november being a terrible dismal month, but i don't feel that way at all this year. a big part of that probably has to do with being in kyoto/japan, where november is really still part of fall, with crisp but not too cold weather and the best and most vivid fall leaves.

out like a lamb

today was a mix of sunny and rainy, so i guess we can say march is going out like a lamb. this needle felted sheep is from the book 'felted wool small things'. there's one copy left in my etsy shop. if you want to see more photos from this book, the flickr set is here.

check out these sweet sleepy sheep from etsy seller namolio.

march has flown by, and i am proud to say that i was able to successfully post here every day of it! i enjoyed the discipline of daily posting, and i think i will try to keep it up for april.
my other goals for march were to join and attend a yoga class regularly (i did that too!). cutting out sugar and drinking less coffee are ongoing projects... (wink).

twilight roosting felt works by elizabeth armstrong

Twilight Roosting , originally uploaded by studiofelter.

these lovely creations were made by the very talented felt maker elizabeth armstrong. you can see her flickr stream here.

sevilla rock collection from skinny laminx

heather moore of skinny laminx is a genius fabric designer from cape town, south africa. her new collection, sevilla rock, is based on cave paintings, and it's gorgeous. these are just a few of the patterns and colors.the sevilla rock collection will be available for sale as tea towels, aprons, cushion, shopping bags and zip pouches. tea towels are available now in the skinny laminx etsy shop. via design*sponge.

rainy saturday

it rained all day. but something i was waiting for in the mail finally arrived, i had a great trip to ikea, and a lovely dinner and evening with friends. and i made the midnight deadline to blog today. just barely!

don't forget...earth hour tomorrow night

where ever you are, on saturday march 28th, you can be part of earth hour by switching off your lights for an hour, at 8:30 pm your local time.

felt art by mummysam

check out these lovely pieces made by mummysam. using 100% wool felt, she creates soft sculptures with free motion stitching and hand embroidery.
i love the little felt houses, of course!
and she also makes flat works. she sells all of it in her etsy shop, and i first heard about mummysam via jars of cute.

pretty flowers and giveaway winner

my walk to the post office is very short, and these days there are always lovely flowers along the way.
and the winner of the felt flower giveaway...lucky number 2! congratulations yamani, your flowers will go out in tomorrow's mail.to pick the winning number, i used a die from monopoly, a game i haven't played in years (although i did play one time after college, and my friends got into a huge fight). but i love the game pieces, from when my brother and i used to play monopoly for hours and hours as kids. here's the wheelbarrow, for everyone thinking about spring and gardening.

yoola

i love these new pear designs from yoola, made of crocheted wire.

you may have seen the striking work of this israeli artist before, like these pomegranates. so pretty, and such a wonderful combination of material, form and craft.

yoola also makes smaller items and sells tutorials and kits if you want to try this fabulous idea yourself. in an article for the etsy stork shop makeover series, she talked about the process of diversifying her shop. i love that she weighed the pros and cons of making tutorials available, went for it, and was successful.

it's raining daffodils...and roving!

happy first day of spring! flowers are blooming everywhere. the crocus have been up for a while, and now wee daffodils are all around. we had a sudden downpour, but now the skies are blue.another sunny springtime mix–yellow wool roving. part of the great spring destash of '09 happening in the shop. i'll be listing more roving today and tomorrow.

hmm, suddenly i have the urge to make felt daffodils.

good business sense

i finally got around to buying and reading craft inc. by meg mateo ilasco. it's gotten a lot of rave reviews in the blogosphere, and rightly so. this book is an indispensable guide for any crafter thinking about running a business and valuable for whatever stage your business is at. i read it pretty much straight through, and plan to keep it nearby.

BAKERY is also a great new resource for today's crafty business owner. the women behind this new site have a wealth of experience in publishing and marketing, and their blog regularly offers concise tips that are smart and easy.

of course, the switchboards, founded in 2004 to support women in business, is the classic go-to resource for any question you might be having about running a small business.

corned beef and cabbage

happy st. patrick's day! i had a little early luck o' the irish last weekend, when i happened be in portland for some friends' early st. patrick's day dinner. (a little head's up for vegetarians: there's a pretty meaty image at the bottom of this post). there were 2 kinds of soda bread, plain and the 'american' version with caraway seeds and raisins. both delicious.

by the way, i just saw the soda bread recipe on CRAFT, which i definitely want to try.
cabbage and potatoes, of course!and corned beef!
yum.