St. Patrick's Day Crochet Projects

St. Patty's day is right around the corner. If you guys haven't done any projects, here are a few that I've found that's fun to do over the weekend to celebrate the holiday. :)

Here are some Free Quick and Easy Clover Crochet

1. Shamrocks by Planet June 

2. Clover Crochet Embellishments by LilySong

3. 4 Leaf Clover by Panda8ngel Creations

4. Crochet Shamrock Ornament, Pin, or Embellishment by Happier Than Pig in Mud

<3 <3 <3

Other Free Cute Crochet Projects to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

1. Lucky Leprechaun Hat Pattern by Micah

2. Happy St. Patrick's Day Hat by Jennygurumi

3. Celtic Knot Pin by Jennifer E. Ryan

4. Shamrock Headband Crochet Pattern by Red Heart Yarn

<3 <3 <3

And I just had to end with these 2 adorable Leprechaun Amigurumi. They are not free but they ready to bring some fun and luck to your party. :)

1. Mike the Leprechaun by Fresh Stitches

2. Little Leprechauns by Ham and Eggs

<3 <3 <3

I hope you guys have an awesome weekend and a great St. Patrick's Day!! :)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Today, my family is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a Chinese, lunar calendar holiday where we get together with family, eat a lot of yummy food, light lanterns and eat Chinese moon cake. It is also called the Moon Festival because it is on a full moon. 

Another story and symbol of this holiday for us is the Rabbit on the Moon, instead of the Man on the Moon. If you want to read that story just click on this link and this link actually has a picture that shows how we see a rabbit on the moon. :) It's a cute story about rewarding sacrifice. 

This year I sent a moon cake and a cute bunny pin to my friend, Rachel. She posted about it on her blog too. :) This pin was inspired by the Rabbit on the Moon story. :)

I used art I found online to cut out the rabbit for the pin.

I love the yellow orange color of this moon so, I took yellow felt and dusted it with my pink blush. :) It gave me a very nice color for the moon. :) I also used the blush to give the rabbit ears and cheek some color.

I also want to show you what a Chinese Moon cake looks like. :) If you check out my friend's blog, she shows a more traditional style of moon cake. The filling is normally red bean, green bean, or taro. And it can come with or without a preserved duck egg yoke inside. I had sent my friend a pineapple filled one because she likes pineapple cakes. :)

My moon cake is a Taiwanese style.

It is filled with green bean paste and dry shredded pork. It sounds weird but the salty sweet is very light and yummy! I really like it! And my mom says that this bakery makes it year round instead of just on holidays. Yea! :) 

Now, there are a lot of non-traditional moon cakes for the younger generation. Some even have Hello Kitty on it. :p I used to like red bean or lotus with an egg yoke but I think I've found a new favorite. :)

I hope you guys looked up at the beautiful full moon tonight! 

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival! :)

More 4 leaf clover pin patterns

I thought it would be cute to take the template from my last lucky clover design and make a pair, Mr. & Mrs. Lucky. :)

I have also found a couple more free 4 leaf clover patterns for you guys to make. I hope they bring you luck, at least so you don't get pinched. :)

I found this video tutorial on how to make a crochet 4 leaf clover. It's nice but I had to change it up a little and write it out for myself.

Make a magic circle

chain 3

2 triple crochet into the magic circle

chain 3

1 single crochet into the magic circle

= 1 leaf

repeat 3 more times to get a total of 4 leaves

tighten magic circle

fasten off

can use a smaller hook size to chain 8-10 for the stem

I wove the end back up the back of the stem and weave it through and add a pin back

&...

Here's an very easy and quick felt 4 leaf clover pattern.

I am re-thinking the idea of wearing this because you never know, I might just get pinched by some really cute guy. hehe Have a lucky day!

March Bunny Package

Here is a March package for my favorite bunny, Rachel.

Felt Peeps bunny and eggs decorated tote.

I bought this mini tote from the $1 section at Target. It is really cute and it was the perfect size to put in a couple of amigurumis. But it was too plain so I decided to decorate it with felt cutouts. Peeps bunnies and eggs were perfect. I might try to crochet this tote. It really is a good size. :)

Inside the tote I wrapped up these two amigurumis.

Cute little blue Steampunk Octopus as a surprise. :)

And the Onigiri girl to help Rachel and her friend sell cute stuff at MobiCon.

Here are a few packages still wrapped from the package that I thought was lost. The poor things have been hiding in my garage for a year or two. I don't think there are any candies in there but there might be something from Halloween. :p Once Rachel opens it, I will link her post so that you can see what was inside.

I think the purple package in the back is a magazine. It feels like one and sounds like one so it must be one. :p I got her the most recent Cross Stitcher as well. It has a cute koala card freebe so, I bought one for myself as well. :) This might get me into the cross stitch mood. :p

A giant stuffed bookworm for her other bookworm friends and some Chinese snacks. 2 more pineapple cakes and the little blue packets are crushed up ramen noodles with powder flavoring. We used to do it with the big packs of ramen noodles that you can buy in the grocery store but they decided to make it on purpose. :)

Inside this cute bunny jar labeled with a big "R" for Rabbit or Rachel is the following cross stitch key chain kits. I promised Rachel, these kits a long long time ago and am just finally getting around to it. :p

I hope she geeks out over everything. hehe
Love ya Bunny!

Lucky 4 Leaf Clover Brooch

I realized that I didn't have anything green to wear so I don't get pinched on St. Patty's Day. I have never gotten pinched but still, it's better to be safe than sorry. Since I had all this felt around me, I decided to make a cute Lucky 4 Leaf Clover feltie pin. :)

I really like how his cute little face turned out. :) Now, no matter what I'm wearing, I will be in the holiday spirit and will never get pinched! :) I wonder if there's a green beer pattern. :p hehe

Here's a template for your enjoyment. :)

Have a Lucky Crafty Month!

1st Butterfly of the Solar New Year

My first beading project of the Solar New Year 2012 is a finish of one I started in the last weeks of 2011.

I got this book called The Big Book of Crystal Beads as a Xmas gift from my good friend, Rachel. I was itching to get started and this was the perfect first project. Sadly, in 2011 this project was not going well. I used Beadalon beading wire and it kinked too much. in 2012 I took it apart and started over with nylon string which worked much better. I didn't have any oval beads so I opted instead to use a crystal bicone of a different shade instead. I think this changed the look of the butterfly significantly. In the book they used two different shape of beads in similar colors to create texture while I used the same shape of beads but in two different shades of Sapphire.

Here you can see my finished butterfly compared to the one in the book.

If I make this again, I might opt for texture difference rather than color but stick with the monochromatic color scheme. I also would change the embellishment in the middle of the bottom two loops to a 6mm bicone like the top two loops of the wings.

You never know what you will like or not like about a project until you work on it and see the beads come together. I often have the hardest time imagining what certain beads and colors will look like in a finished piece but I usually like the result anyways. :)

What do you think for the start of the solar New Year? :) Hope yours is going splendidly. 

Very Very Last Min Gift and wrapping, + an experiement

So, a very down to the wire, simple yet elegant Christmas present for my Aunt. I literally finished it with 10 min to put on a little makeup before we left to meet up with her and her friends for Dim Sum.

Silver Bells Bracelet

In the center is a cute cluster of jingle bells. She wore it during the meal so I am glad to say, it doesn't constantly jingle and drive you crazy. You only hear it during big or sharp hand gestures. I strung an interesting combination of Swarovski crystals in different finishes (Matt vs AB) and sizes (3mm, 4mm, 6mm). I added a few silver ball beads to add a little more sparkle and so I could use my crimp bead covers at the back and to tie in the silver bells. The pattern is a simple cluster of A-B-A. I think to make something so simple, interesting especially since it is monochromatic, is to vary the finishes and sizes. It's just like interior decorating, you want to vary texture. I finished it by adding an 1 inch extender chain and a few more crystals at the end of that.

My mom really liked it so she made me teach her how to make it. I gave her the beads in the order of the pattern and she strung it on. I tried to show her how to add the clasp and finish it but she got a phone call so I finished it for her. :P She was going to give it away but decided that she wanted to wear it to her work Christmas Buffet. :)

The perfect quick last min gift for an unexpected female guest. :P

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While she was out, I was tasked with wrapping 2 cute bento boxes she got for her friends' sons.

One was this cute frog and the other was a cute smiling raccoon. Due to the rounded edges, I had to figure out a way to wrap these without a box to put them in and no gift bags (I ran out). I decided to make my own gift bags from wrapping paper.

Simple and cute for little boys to tear into. :)

Box 1 was made with a leftover piece of wrapping paper. It was long and just wide enough. 

I folded the base first to fit the bento boxes.

Then I folded the corners in and taped up the sides.

I folded down the top like a brown paper lunch bag...speaking of which, I should always have some on hand to decorate for last minute gift bags. :p

Box 2 was made in using the envelop method. There are tutorials all over the web on how to make an envelope into a bag. I first taped a piece of wrapping paper into a tube.

Then I made the creases for the 4 sides.

I folded the bottom like I would when I wrap an actual box and are finishing the ends.

Folded down the top and added curling ribbon. Done. :)

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I had a great idea for a bracelet for my Aunt the night before that turned out to be not so great as a bracelet.

I thought I could jazz up the beaded tennis bracelet design. Luckily I made a sample for myself and hated it for a bracelet. I got to this (above pic) and stopped. Now, what do I do with this? It would be a cute hair clip but then I thought maybe I could make it into a brooch.

I added loops to the top and sides. Then fringe to the bottom. I will never make this again because I used nylon and that was a pain to get through the seed beads. And the fringe won't stay right.

Just got to add the pin back. What do you think? I might go back to it being a hair clip, I don't know.... :p

Christmas Eve Day is Tomorrow!!! Good luck everyone!!!
And Happy Holiday to you and your loved ones! :)

A Bunny Christmas

Happy Christmas!! 

Here is the start of my posting the packages I sent to friends who are not close.

This one is to my friend, Rachel, who has been a constant source of friendship, love, and support throughout all these almost 18 years.

Stuffed Moose

Here is everything I stuffed in this Moose. It can hold a lot. There are two spiral notebooks, one Japanese Hello Kitty and the other My Melody bunny. There is a little angel ornament cross stitch kit. I found these cute buttons in sewing designs. My mom brought back some cute bracelets from her visit to Taiwan, the turquoise one was cute so I thought she might like it. The mini bottles are chocolate bottles filled with liquor in them. :) And then there's the silver bag...

 I made a ribbon flower brooch that I thought would be pretty against a black or silver sweater. :) It could also be pinned to a tote bag to make it more festive. :) 

A book for Fairy Tales retold for a Fairy Tale lover. It is not antique sadly but I read some of them and they are pretty interesting. I just hope she doesn't have it already in her vast book collection. :P

I got one of the authors that contributed to the collection to sign in personally to my friend. :)

It was at Comic Con. Pat Briggs Rules! :)

I found some other cute stuff at Comic Con too.

Fat Rabbit Farm!!!

Cute T-shirt with a bunny surrounded by sweets!

Cute Tote bag front

Cute Tote bag back

 The tote bag was from a different booth. I thought the little bunnies were so cute.

I had to add something Swarovski Crystals and made by me so I adorned this felt cup cozy with a pretty little beaded crystal flower. It was a last minute add to the Moose. Dang that Moose can hold a lot. :) 

I don't know if you can tell but the center crystals are 4mm Alexandrite Swarvoski bicones that change color in different light. It turns from a light purple to a light blue when you move it btw fluorescent and incandescent light. The color change is really hard to take pictures of but it is very cool in person.

I hope you love everything little bunny!! Miss you!

She also posted this package :)