Hello Kitty & Kawaii

All of our hearts and minds are with those in Japan. It is unfathomable what they have been suffering. It is sometimes quite difficult to comprehend. We see the images on our television and computer screens. We hear the reports on the radio, podcasts, or other places online. Unless you are there, it is rather surreal. It may be really silly or stupid but one item of news that made it feel personal to me was the report that Yuko Yamaguchi, the creator of Hello Kitty had been killed in the earth quake. She has since updated her blog and is not only alive, but well. It all of a sudden felt real to me! I don't know Yuko. I've never even seen her in real life. But Hello Kitty has been a love of mine for years and years! I felt a sense of loss. I'm actually embarrassed to admit it. So many people have lost their lives and homes and everything they've owned and it was the possible death of Hello Kitty's creator that shook me.

I am a child at heart and in mind sometimes too. I am not alone. I'd like to honor the Japanese love of cuteness as it is something I love about Japan.

Since the 1970s, cuteness, in Japanese kawaisa (可愛さ^?) (literally, "lovability", "cuteness" or "adorableness"), has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.^[1] It is also referred to as kawaii (literally, adorable, precious, lovable, or innocent^[2]). wikipedia.

There is a Wikipedia article titled Cuteness in Japanese culture!

Amigurumi - literally knitted stuffed toy, is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures.
Here are a few free patterns! 

Nuigurumi literally means 'sew and wrap' in Japanese - but refers to rag dolls and stuffed animals!

 There is of course origami, 

furoshiki 

I think I shall have to give Amigurumi a go in honor of the Japanese x

What I'm Working On

It's wedding season! Weddings are no longer the same. Gone are the days of cookie cutter themes. Brides are getting super creative these days. I'm working on a few things for a very creative bride who has shunned flowers from her day! She'll be carrying a brooch bouquet, her bridesmaid will have have a button bouquet {by me!} and the groom & groomsmen button boutonnieres {also by me}! I am loving all of the thriftiness and making in some of today's weddings. It makes my little old fashioned heart skip a beat!

So here is my first button boutonniere. The design is the bride's but I'm still pretty proud of my work :)

I've got to tidy up the fray {already fray-checked the rascal!}

So there ya go! A sneaky peak! What'd ya think?!

Pretty Printable Recipe Card Roundup!

I love keeping good recipes. I don't like just printing them off, I prefer to hand write them. I have this great little binder from Paperchase.

That's not my exact one, but you get the idea. Cute huh?! It has refills for all the pages, I love it and am ready for my second set of refills! I hope to keep collecting recipes for years to come and one day pass it down to someone else who loves to cook. I don't know if they still do it, but Anthropolgie used to do a recipe book too.

Tipnut has put together a collection of sweet recipe cards you can print out & keep or give. I went to a bridal shower once where everyone was asked to bring their favorite recipe. I thought that was a great idea! Here are a few of my favorites from Tipnut's list of 30!

Elegant recipe cards from the Tie That Binds 

Retro Recipe Cards for Bakers by My Girl Thursday

Mamie at Avie Designs has made a lovely recipe card that will fit the Anthropologie book!

Cute report card a la Paper Crave!!! 

Brown Paper Bag Recipe Card by Jackie Hernandez 

I have such a soft spot for brown paper *sigh*. Great job Jackie!

Which one will you use?

How Cute is this Swaddle Softie!

Check out this super sweet softie by Stumbles & Stitches!

I just love the fabrics don't you?! 

 

 

Here's Jenny's pattern as a pdf. If you want to follow her tutorial and see more pictures head on over to the Stumbles & Stitches blog!

Who's going to make some?!

Thrift to Fantasy

This book ticks pretty much all of my boxes! 

Rosemary McCleod has one of this country's largest collections of women's handcrafts. When it was exhibited at the Dowse gallery, almost 40,000 women of all ages came to see it, and the idea for this book was born. In her own words: "My collection began when I held onto items made by women in my own family when they died. I still have items made by my great grandmother, grandmother and my mother. I began collecting other objects about 20 years ago. I found them in thrift shops and bought them because they seemed to tell a story I knew from my own background." In Thrift to Fantasy, Rosemary has used them to brilliant effect, creating a unique social and personal history of their makers - women and girls who dreamed about a life beyond the farm gate and worked those dreams into reality, using the simple materials they had to hand. From rag rugs to felt handbags, from patchwork quilts to sacking aprons, from knitted panties to topsy-turvy dolls, they provide a unique insight into women's art and creativity in a new country learning its own nature. Superbly illustrated with hundreds of examples from the 30s, 40s and 50s and designed by Sarah Maxey, this book is destined to become a classic.

That's the good news. The bad news is no one seems to stock it! Maybe it's out of print! Noooooo! I've only just discovered it in the March 2006 copy of Knitting magazine!