Proto Name tags for Sakura Matsuri

My classmates and I are planning to go to Sakura Matsuri this year! Can’t wait.

I made name tags recently which looked nice for a day and fell apart. The issue was, metal does not really glue with paper very well, so a piece of plastic in between is advisable.

So right now I am going to test out the new name tags (Totoro theme!) I make to see if it would last/how long it will last. I am using this super strong, cement tape and plastic, so hopefully it will work! Wish me luck.

Front!

Back! My friend gave me this really cute stamp 🙂 Kodomo no kao is written on the side of the stamp which means a child’s face 😀

Name Tags

I have to admit, I was a bit obsessed with Japan week; I thought it would be so fun to wear name tags when we go to Grand Central. We went after class last night at around 8:30 and was disappointed to find most vendors gone; the only thing we could do was eat bento or drink sake of which we passed on.

I spent Thursday night making them. Went to Toho Shoji in midtown to get the flower piece, yellow crystals and pins. I used my Coloraid paper and gold paper (I bought it with the intention of making christmas cards which never manifested into physical forms).

Samurai tachi 🙂

Mine since the flowers sold out. Improvise!

Back!

Sadly, I didn’t glue the one for my teacher well enough so the flower fell off. I was so sad! Beacon Magna-Tac 809, you have failed me!

Happy Holidays from Nanansa!

On a Tuesday evening, I set out to make greeting cards for my friends so I can send them out before Christmas. Inadvertently due to my slow production, I was only able to produce one card a day.

Front

Inside

Front

Inside

Needless to say, that’s not enough for all my friends! Lesson learned is to start earlier in the year (say- september)! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🙂

JLPT N5 Preparation

For JLPT, N5 is the lowest level. We (my wonderful classmates and I) are going to take it this Sunday! We had been studying diligently; on most Mondays since August, we had been meeting to study after work!

To prepare for our battle, I made Samurai hats.

Samurai hat on J’adore perfume bottle 🙂 Easy origami!

Samurai JLPT Tools- Pencils, Eraser & Samurai hat

Samurai names! Akimi chan came up with the great idea of having a Japanese name so we would be more serious about our studies and be more immersed in the culture. Needless to say, she’s brilliant!

Gambatte test takers! 🙂 I love what our teacher had taught us: “ダメもとでがんばります” (Dame moto de ganbarimasu) which means even if we know it will end bad, we will still do our best. The process or experience is more important than winning or succeeding. It’s great, if we succeed, but even if we don’t, we will still do our best!

Akimi Chan’s survival guide

Akimi Chan who had packed her bags and three dogs, is currently driving cross country to Seattle. We had a class outing last Sunday; memorable as always, with gifts from the whole class, a little bittersweet, but mostly sad. There are certain feelings that cannot be translated into words just as meanings and depths of words are lost when you are translating from one language to another. When our teacher had her seventh beer and said “Sumimasen” to random person on the street who had no semblance to a Japanese person, it meant a lot more than lines of prose.

Akimi in Kanji- Made with jeweled ribbon for wrapping from Container Store

Handmade Seattle survival guide copies the concept of Zombie survival guide.
Includes 5 sections. Index is as followed:
1) Vintage Shops/Stores- Akimi chan loves to shop in vintage shops and stores, she easily scores awesome vintage brand name boots for less than $30, once she got this awesome pair of Marc Jacobs heels for less than $10.
2) Seattle Slangs
3) Vegan/Vegetarian- 3 markets/restaurants
4) Photos of our class outings
5) Classmates’ individual photo with names and descriptions

Not to excuse myself for lack of posts recently but argh! it’s so sad when a close friend moves away. Good luck and Gambatte Akimi chan!

More gift boxes!

Woven fabric boxes are fun to make. Since I found another pattern at Muji, I decided to make more for future usages!

Case # 1

Overview

Closed

Open

Case#2

Overview

Open

Case #3

Overview

Obviously I am still having trouble with workmanship. Not as smooth or perfect as can be! Attached to the pattern are all woven fabric so next time will try knit!

Handmade Fabric Gift box

Friday was my friend/classmate’s birthday! Not having a ton of time and lacking in energy but wanting to add a personal touch to it, I made a box for the tiny gift. All you really have to do is get the pattern of the box, apply fabric on one side, cut, fold and glue! Prior to gluing the fabric on paper, it is important to iron the fabric/cloth to prevent wrinkles and avoid sloppiness. This is the first time I’ve made a box so it didn’t turn out anywhere close to perfect. It is important to use stronger/heavier paper so it would look sturdy and be more functional!

Closed and wrapped with a ribbon!

Without ribbon! Due to the feebleness of light weighed paper, it is not perfectly angular.

You can glue a piece of paper in the interior so it would look more decorative!

Tada! With gift!

Happy Monday! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend!!

Happy V-Day!

A friend of mine has two very very extremely adorable daughters! To wish them a Happy V-day I decided to put something together for them!

Mini pouch made with felt, chiffon, fleece, ribbons, velcro & tons of glue!

Back!

Filled up with candy goodness (Starburst!).

All Stuffed and full!!

Hope the kids like it. Happy V-day, Chloe & Lynn!! 🙂