new blog design

I redesigned my blog again! I had originally drawn a design with chickens and clovers but for some reason it didn't save so I just went with this picture instead and a beige theme.  I hope its visually cleaner... I think it came out nice (maybe more professional without all my drawings?)  We'll see ♥

bears and swatches

My, how quickly time flies between posting!  Not that much to talk about today, so its only bits and bobs; only it seems some people [read: my little sister] thought my temporarily blind bears were a bit scary, like zombie bears, so here they are with their new eyes... I think they came out cute!  They're in my shop now, which incidentally is pretty empty otherwise; I'll have to work on filling it up again!

Spoonflower is having a special on 8"x8" (swatches of fabric for $1 (instead of $5) from now until June 30st because they are changing their color profiles so they will be more vibrant and true to the colors that show up on your computer screen.  The deal is for all fabric swatches, including ones you design yourself, so check it out! I'm going to use this opportunity to print some of my fabric designs so that I can make them available for future purchase (so if you've been waiting don't worry... it'll be just a bit more!)

Lastly, I got some tatting shuttles and I'm gonna try my crocheting hand at tatting!  So far I'm pretty excited (but then again I haven't really made anything, so I have no frame of reference for how fun its going to be)... I  was pretty enamoured with the thought of making my own lace-ish items/ earrings.  We'll see how it goes!  In  the meantime, I hope you all have a lovely weekend ♥

fabric mart find+ blind bears

Bought this seafoam green glitter vinyl last week from Fabric Mart... I didn't even know they carried it!  Turns out they do, plus lots of other goodies.  I'm not exactly sure what I'll make out of it yet, but I can't wait to try.

Also, I finally got around to making more amigurumi (pictures and listings will probably be posted Sunday or Monday... Monday is a holiday here in Hawaii!!!) These just don't have eyes yet... they are temporarily blind bears!

transit of venus

I've been finishing up a bunch of stuff lately, and I just realized I've been away from my blog for quite a bit again... I'm sorry!  I don't mean to neglect it.  Anyway, after my craft fair extravaganza,  you may have noticed my shop is rather empty.  I'm working slowly but surely to make new amigurumi for it (there haven't been any different/newer designs in for a while).  I hope to have some of them listed next weekend.

In the meantime, I've been kept busy by a side job (on top of my current full-time job) which has me translating some very cool and interesting articles in the Hawaiian language newspapers.  For those of you who don't know, this upcoming week is the transit of Venus (as in the planet), an astronomical event where Venus passes in front of the sun and is visible on certain places on earth;  it is one of the "rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena...They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years."  2004 was the last time Venus transited in recent years, but after this week this phenomena won't be seen again until 2117!!!

The articles I'm translating are from the late 1870s; the last transit of Venus occurred in December 1874.

 

Isn't it neat???  Anyway, I just thought I'd share so you all can make sure you try to see it... you'll never get the chance again! According to Wikipedia, the full 2012 transit will be visible in Hawai'i, northwestern North America, northern Asia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, central and eastern Australia and the Pacific islands. Most of North America and northwestern South America will be able to see the start of the transit before sunset, while southern Asia, the Middle East, eastern Africa, western Australia, and most of Europe will be able to observe the end of the transit as the Sun rises.  Good luck!!!