Craftster Junkie

I've been such a craftster.org whore lately. Once my computer finds signal from my neighbor's wireless, all I can think about is looking at the awesome new sewn creations. All I've been getting is inspiration after inspiration, I hope that once the time comes for me to actually do it, I can perform. If not, at least I know I'm just a beginner, and that I tried. =]

Anyway, if you're interested in making your own clothing, or any sewing project, burdastyle.com is a pretty cool place for patterns. I haven't tried any of them yet (I'm too scared/lazy) but they look good! If you're a better domestic diva than I am and actually start and/or complete a project, send me pictures!

Mailing List

Before I go to sleep, I was thinking that I wanted to start a mailing list or something so I can contact you or just email you new posts or maybe an alert for when I post something new...or I don't know. Just to keep in touch. I hate myspace so I prefer not to use it simply because well, I don't really know how to do things the easy way on there...I like email so I can do email.

Anyway, if you would like to join my mailing list, (don't worry, I won't sell your info and all that, even if I wanted to, I don't know how!) just email me your first name and email address to succeedingmartha@gmail.com and I'll try to send you cool stuff.... I'll think of something I can do, but I won't send you annoying "promotional offers" so if you're worried about that, then don't.

If you know how I can send mass messages to my friends on myspace, then please email me about that too! Although I hate myspace, I'm willing to learn for my readers out there.

Little Vacation

Phew! It has been a long time, but I now feel it's time to tie an apron on and begin cooking and whipping up some amazing crafts again.

I'm sorry for those of you loyal readers for not updating in a while, but in my defense, I did tell you I was going on vacation, and although I've been retiring in my humble home every night for the past few weeks, I've been on a mental vacation. It's been pretty good for me. I've cleared up a lot of things in my head and I've got a lot of inspiration for new projects. I'm happy to announce that I will be learned the amazing craft of sewing and pattern making. Just as soon as my Dad clears up his schedule.

During my "vacation" I decided that I would only buy clothing I knew I couldn't make on my own or felt that it was just too much of a steal to pass up! This way, my wardrobe will not only fit me perfectly, but I'll be the only one with that piece AND I'll be so proud honestly saying that I made it. I do hope that you join me on this little journey. I'll be sure to post instructions and hopefully patterns (if I can figure out how to do that part...any ideas? email me!)



What else, what else? Oh I just recently got hooked on the Showtime series Weeds. Unfortunately I don't get Showtime (we have pretty basic cable...) but I did see season 1 at Target for $15.99. What a deal! So I decided to take a chance on it, and wow...I am happy! can't wait until Season 2 comes out on DVD!

Anyway, I'll hopefully be bringing you some crafty goodness within the next few weeks. I think I'll still partially on vacation so you'll have to forgive me if I don't have anything for a little while. Well, I have work tomorrow, and it's getting late, so I think I'm going to sign off now. Good night! Or morning, or afternoon!

Potluck Pictures!

As promised (but slightly delayed) here are some pictures from the little potluck we had last week. I'll post recipes and instructions in a little bit. (No guarantees of when yet! But I will if you're interested.)

I haven't had lemon meringue pie in a VERY long time, so I decided to try to make it on my own. Looks pretty good eh?


Here's a blueberry pie before it's baked. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it baked. But it looks the same! Just golden. =]


The first time I've seen a pineapple get peeled from the start. Looks so pretty and it's pretty simple once you know the technique (which I learned from my dad).


Working on our edible centerpiece... Very simple, but a definite conversation starter!


And the Finished product:

My my how the time passes

I can't believe its been so long since I've written! I've been doing so much lately, I'm not really sure what I've been doing. All I know is that I've been working...I'm tired, and well, I've got more work to do! Oh well. Work is good right? It just means that there's money to be made. And I need all the money I can get since I have lots of projects planned. Just no tiime!

Anyway, I hope that I can write more than this, but don't expect too much from me in the next few weeks. I'll be getting a temporary new schedule so I'll be working like 5-6 days a week for the next two weeks (which is a lot for me because I usually only work 3 days) and then after that, I'm going camping!! yay! =]

Incase You Want to Try It...

I was looking at a few posts at craftster.org and came across crocheted tampons (interesting, I've seen them as a joke before, but these had a useful destiny) which then lead to a tutorial for a reusable pad--or feminine napkin. Pretty interesting, and if you're interested, here's the link!

Some Inspired Work

I'm so happy to say that this blog has inspired somebody to actually go out and try a project. Ok fine, it's my sister, but really, it's hard to inspire her enough to do any kind of project with her busy schedule and all. Here's an awesome stencil she made. =]


Check out more at her blog

Forget Lexus

I thought my dream car was a Lexus, Mercedes, or BMW. But then i saw this. Scoot over Batman, I've got a cooler hero with an even cooler ride!



Check out their website

In Need Of Some Attention

I would be so scared to go to the bathroom (even more than I already am with my fear of sewer gators or snakes coming up from the toilet and biting me in a vulnerable and embarassing position) if my toilet looked like this.

Being Domestic Tip:
Have a toilet scrubber right next to our friend here so you can casually scrub the toilet at least once a week to avoid ugly rings or hard to remove build up. After all, it's there because it built up after time. Cleaning for just one minute every few days can save you that extra time you would spend scrubbing the toilet when you get to the embarassing two color tone toilet bowl stage..

New Look

Yes, I finally decided to change the blog template. Hopefully I won't even be using templates in the near future. Still working on the tedious website. I was supposed to buy a book today to teach myself the program, but it slipped my mind. My little camping vacation was taking priority today.

Anyway, as I'm typing, I'm brainstorming all types of awesome projects I'm planning on making. I even have the supplies ready, but no time! Soon...very soon I hope.

If you're wondering why I chose this ubiquitous template, it's because I'm trying to upload a header I made, but I guess the internet is a little slow because it just won't upload it and it's been like 15 minutes. Oh well.

What I've been up to...

It's been a while since I've last posted and I apologize for that... I been somewhat busy working on the design for the new website. Which I HOPE *fingers crossed like 20x* will be up and running within a week or two. No guarantees though... But that's the goal I'm hoping for.

I've decided to teach myself GoLive which is supposed to be a really good program for that...but we'll see how things turn out. Either that, or my friend may actually pull through and get my site up! I guess it'll be a little race!

Aside from that, I'm planning another little BBQ in about a week or so.... Hopefully my guests will actually get that it's a potluck and yes they're no exception to the rule! I haven't decided on a decorative motif...but at least I've gotten as far as deciding I will do something to decorate! I'll be sure to post lots of pictures and some tutorials and recipes!

First Multilayer Stencil (and tutorial!)

The last video I posted featured a multilayered stencil and it got me so inspired, I decided to try my hand at one myself! And so we both benefit, I took lots of pictues so we could both learn.

Materials:
3 copies of your desired image preferrably printed on a thick cardstock, photo paper (that's what I used), or a transparancy sheet (that would probably work best)
Sharpie or pen you can mark with
X-acto Knife
Cutting Mat (or something you can cut on so you won't damage your furniture or blade)
Canvas or surface to spray your image on
4 cans of different colored spray paint (I used Raspberry, White, Black, and Primer)
Spray Adhesive
Old newspaper

Instructions:

Select your image and print it 3 times. For some reason, my printer printed it out in weird colors (as if black and white wouldn't have been easier for it...) It also was being a little wierd on the quality, so I chose the darkest one for the "gray" stencil, the worst quality for the "white" stencil, and the last for the "black" stencil. Then I labeled them with my trusty sharpie so I wouldn't get confused or forget which was which.



For the white stencil, cut out a sillouhette of your image. You may find it easier if you trace the image with your sharpie.


For the black stencil, cut out the darkest parts of the image. (Like the eyes, hair, nostrils, etc.)


I saved the gray stencil for last since it requires a little more thought than the other two. For this one, I definitely recommend using your sharpie or marker to outline the darker shadows to cut out. It also helps you see if you like the look of your stencil before you regret cutting some of the pieces out.


Now for the fun part, spraying your image!

First, lay out your newspaper and center your canvas on your scrap paper. Then, spray your background color evenly on the canvas/surface. I did two separate coats so it was more even.



Always make sure that your paint is dry before you move on to the next step!

Spray a light coat of the adhesive on the back of your stencil to avoid overspray (or underspray!) You'll get cleaner lines if you do this step. I lined the bottom left hand corner of the image with the bottom left hand corner of the canvas so it would be easier to line the other two images. When the white coat is dry (and make sure it's completely dry!), align the gray stencil exactly where you aligned the first stecil, then spray the gray coat. (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the white coat...)


See that overspray on the top of the canvas? You definitely want to use some cardboard to cover any parts of the canvas that you don't want to be colored. Or you can tape some scrap paper to the edges of the stencil incase that happens. I was lazy so I didn't do that.

Now for the black stencil, do exactly what you did for the first two stencils.


All done!

Cool Stencil Video

This is the next thing I'm going to have to learn to do...multilayered stencils. He doesn't show the complete process, but you get the gist...

Update

This week for me was all about catching up with my friends and family, so I didn't get much of a chance to try any new projects. Sorry! But I hear your requests for some recipes from my Chinese Baking School sessions... My teacher gives recipes equivalent for baking for an actual bakery or cooking for an army, so I'm trying to divide the recipes for you in much smaller portions and well, just to make sure, I'm going to try and test them for you first.

My teacher also has a specific way of doing things so I'd like to take some pictures so you have a better understanding of how the batter should look along the process and fill you in on all of the very helpful hints she gave me. So I'm sorry for the delay...I'm just trying to get it as close to perfect as I can for you right now! =] Bear with me!

The other reason why I've been lagging it is that I've been kind of addicted to played Pokemon Pearl for the DS lately...sorry. lol.



I started out with the little blue one on the right hand side. Isn't he cute??

Being Domestic Tip: Organizing

We are trying to be more organized so now whenever we make a stencil, we keep it in a large envelope (they're fairly cheap, I got mine at Costco for about $8 for I think about 100). Then, you can label the envelope with a name you designate to it or do what they're meant for, print the image right onto the envelope. I did both and now when I complete a stencil, I'm sure that it'll be safe and sound in its own case and I won't have to pull all the stencils out of their envelopes since they're all labeled now!

This can even be used for organizing your cards. Ex. One evelope for birthdays, another for "get wells soon" cards, etc.

Such an easy thing to do, but you'd be kicking yourself if you never thought of it.

Last Day of Baking School

I'm sad to say that yesterday marked my last day of attendance at the Chinese Baking School I've been going to for the past five weeks. I've learned a lot about cakes and baking--so much that I've gotten to the point where I don't even want to try what we make anymore. lol. It took me a little over two years to get to this point. I'm sure it's just a short phase though. I'll get back to my old self pretty soon.

Anyway, here are some of the things I baked yesterday....

Napoleon
I'm not really sure if that's what it's really supposed to be like. I remember having some with lots of cream in it...but maybe that one wasn't the real thing. Not so sure. I didn't try this because yesterday I was just not feeling any sweets. My mom says it tasted good though. (By the way, it's green because the center is whipped egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and green pandan cake crumbs)



Next time, I'd like to try a fruit version of this. Maybe some puff pastry, pastry cream, raspberries, more puff pastry, pastry cream, etc.

Cream Horns
These are real lookers but they're actually really easy to make! We were supposed to use white sugar crystals but the teacher only had red sugar crystals at the time. It looks festive--maybe a good color for the holidays? These are filled with some buttercream, which is pretty good, but in small doses. The key to these are to have the right equipment. She uses these metal almost cone shaped molds to wrap the puff pastry around.



Maple Cake
This cake smells really rich, but the cake is actually really light and soft! The only REALLY sweets parts are the raisins in there.

Four Eyes

Yes, I do wear glasses, infact, I'm pretty sure that I'm legally blind. What can you do but wear contacts or get cool new glasses? For the most part, I wear glasses, but a friend of mine (I met him at the restuarant) work for an optometrist always shows me some cool frames he gets as samples and today, he gave me these. What do you think? Now all I have to do is get my eyes checked again so they can make me some new glasses. Yay! I look pretty smart in these don't I?

New shirt

Yesterday, I created a new stencil for the other shirt I plan on sending my sister. This time, it's a picture of a beta fish since she's the proud owner of two. I haven't tested it yet, I hope it works! I'm not even sure what color to print it yet.

My boyfriend also worked on a shirt, but it's not done yet either. Hopefully next week we'll have it all together.

Stencil T-Shirt

As promised, I began teaching myself how to make stencils and silkscreen. Normally, when you silkscreen, you apply some emulsion to the screen so when you put your image on there and expose it to the sun, the parts under the dark spots of the image do not harden and wash away creating a stencil. But for this shirt, I cut out a stencil from an image I got from a magazine, placed it on the t-shirt, put the framed screen over it and pushed the paint through with a squeegee. This is the result.

I actually didn't want to post this yet, but I'm just so proud of it. =) I wanted to keep a little mystery since I'll be sending this to my sister, but I still have one more shirt to do, so I guess that one will just be a surprise for her.



A closer look:

Some Random Photos

Today was such an eventful day, thank God I had my camera with me!

Dirty Truck with a Dirty Slogan...


Never seen a Bus in Training (I was just outside of Chinatown when I saw this)


The Crow just had to pick this spot, didn't he (or she)?

My first Animal Amigurumi

I suppose it's more of an insect or something. Anyway, I got the "inspiration" from this wonderful website/artist. You should defiitely check out her gallery, it's the reason I picked up crocheting again. She has this one "stuffie" or whatever you call them, of a little snail and I thought it was so cute, I had to try to recreate it on my own. It's a fairly simple design, but it took me some time to figure how everything should go together. I'm pretty proud of it, although i think the little flower she put on her's really finishes it off and well, I was just too lazy to make one since I don't have the convenience of a bead like she had.

Hers:


Mine:




What do you think? Close match???

New Camera!

You never know when a great photo opportunity will come, so why not always carry a camera? I've really always wanted to be able to carry a camera around with me all the time so I can take pictures of things, events, or whatever... After like a year of wanting, but never getting a camera, my wonderful boyfriend got me one today. =]I'm so happy with the camera, it's like a PERFECT rectangle...which is weird...but really cool! LOL. I left the camera at my boyfriend's place though so I can't show you samples of its great pictures...the thing that amazes me most about it is that it recognizes human faces. So when you're taking a picture of a person, in the lcd screen, there's like a little box around the person's face. Weird huh?

Anyway, with the new camera, I'll hopefully be having lots of great pictures up everyday (or at least whenever I post). This way, you can see my everyday life and good quality pictures of baked goods, crochet toys, and whatever else I'm into at the time. =] I'm pretty sleepy so I'm almost 100% sure that this post made no sense. So, sorry for wasting your time while I mindlessly ramble on and on. I need some sleep.

DS Case

I finally finished it. I'm a little too lazy to photo shop it or whatever so you can actually read the thing... Although I probably should since it kind of looks worse like this. lol. I'm not 100% happy with it, but I'm sure it'll turn out better next time. (If there is a next time.)

It was surprisingly a lot of work...*sigh* but it's done!

Today's Goodies

Fruit bowl
This is my first stab at cutting fruit in a different shape than just straight. These are angled lines! I'm definitely going to try fruit/vegetable carving! Next time I do this though, I'm going to scoop melon balls out of the cantaloupe so it'll be easier to eat...and look pretty too!



Mango cake filled with strawberries and bananas. If you're going to attempt this, make sure to slice the mango thin (probably about 1/8" thick so it sticks to the sides easily.

Pictures from Last Week

I know, these photos are a tad bit late, but I really wanted to share them with you, and well, what better time than never?

Cake filled with canned Lynchee and Lynchee flavored frosting.



Crispy Walnut Cake
(Filled with crushed walnuts, pastry cream, and a sheet of puff pastry. Topped with Strawberries, Kiwi, and an Apple in the center)

It says, "Happy Mother's Day"


From the top:


Cheesecake (I prefer the taste of a homemade rich cheesecake rather than this one--it's practically from the box--but for what it is, it's still good!)

Spam Overload

I wish I was talking about the food...I haven't had it in a while, I kind of miss it. (Actually, the the only place I did get to eat it was at my cousin's house. That's all she ever had, spam or corned beef. Ah, the good old days) But this time, I'm talking about the digital age spam.

I just checked my myspace accounted and in ONE MINUTE I got 27 messages telling me about some hot new ringtones I can get for free. I don't even have a phone that's capable of that! At least I think so....

Update

I've been inbetween a few projects lately, and well, working on them all at once is causing them to be finished slower. Lol. I've been working on another crochet banana (I gave the last one to my friends)...it's almost done. I only have one peel to do left. I'm not sure why I haven't done it yet. I finally finished the mushroom I told you about a while ago, but it was for somebody else and I never got to take a picture of it. Maybe I can ask her to take a picture of it for me. =)

As for the stenciling, I was experimenting yesterday with printing it on shirts and well, it was pretty successful. I couldn't really finish it though because I had to go to work and it wasn't dry yet. I'm hoping to have a picture of it for you sometime tonight or maybe tomorrow. I hope. =)

My First Stencil

That video I posted a few days ago of the artist stenciling inspired me, but I was so caught up in crocheting, I didn't think I would begin a new craft so soon. Today, I was looking through my boyfriend's magazine (it was Maxim) and I came across a stencil artist that is not only amazing at stenciling, but he's also amazingly stealthy (he smuggled some of this art into some New York museums!).

Here's one of Banksy's (the featured artist in the magazine) famous works:


So we asked our cook, who's also an artist, if he knew how to stencil and his reply, "Oh my gosh, that's so easy! It's all in the shadows!" Those few words made me produce this.



It was a newspaper clipping of some politician, I forget his name, and no, it's not George Bush as everyone thought it was today. I just did exactly as the cook told me to...just cut out the dark parts. Now the black parts are the easy part, but you also want to cut out some of the gray parts (if it's not a 100% black and white photo...which is what I recommend if this is your first stencil). I also spray painted it to test out the stencil and also so you can see it a little better.

It's a fairly easy project to do, very cost efficient and extremely addicting!

A few tips:
- Get a black and white photo (can be a newspaper/magazine clipping, a photo you took yourself, or a picture you got offline). A completely black and white photo (no grayscale here!) is recommended, but not required.
- Use very, very sharp x-acto knife. You can find some high quality blades at an art supply store or even a hardware store. Just make sure it's really sharp and pointed for those fine details
- Heavy paper. If you can, photo copy your image onto some heavy paper. It's not very easy cutting small details onto newspaper (it tears very easily).
- Enjoy! This is a really fun project and once you finish your first one, you'll want to make another, so make sure you set aside a bit of time for this project!

Craftster feedback

I'm so excited. Last night, I decided to share my picture of the last crochet cupcake (with my kitty, Mr. Diva) on the very awesome, and inspiring website, craftster.org. And guess what I went back today to find, 4 comments on it! I've posted on the website before, but no feedback...then again, the project kind of sucked. lol. Oh well. Anyway, I'm so exicted.

As for my crochet goods, I'm currently working on a super cool (at least I hope so) Nintendo DS case. I made one the other day, but I'm not 100% satisfied with it so far...Hopefully the next one will be nice. I'm also hoping that I finally get my lazy butt to try making another banana. (I've already made one, but again, I'm not 100% on it...so the 2nd one will hopefully be better)

Anyway, I'll try to have some pictures of my stuff for you as soon as I can. But, for now, it's time to sleep. Good night!

Oh yes, if you're looking to download some nice happy upbeat songs, I suggest you check out The Fratellis - Flathead or really, any of their songs...I just downloaded it on iTunes. =)

Moldy Never Looked so Good

This is so cute! I wish I could take the credit for this little spoiled treat, but I can't. The good news is that unlike me, this person knows how to create pattern and shares it with us all. Click here to see the pattern. For those of you that don't know how to crochet, or how to read patterns, I think the picture just about does it for me.

Earth Day

Oh goodness, I can't believe I used to watch this show almost religiously... But, with all this hype about Earth Day (Kudos to everyone, I've never seen so much hype about Earth Day), I remembered Captain Planet.

Anyway, in celebration of Earth Day, here's a little project you can feel good about. (And it's cheap!) I'll have to attempt this project again...the first (and last time) I did this, my sister and I used some old newspaper and well, I have no idea what happened. It just didn't turn out great. Oh well, I think I was like 7 and my sister was 11 or something. lol. Gosh that was a while ago. =(

A little inspiration for you

I was going through some YouTube videos hoping I could find a few good vids about crochet or something like that, but instead, I stumbled upon this, and well, I'm more than happy. I'm definitely going to attempt to stencil some things in the near future. I'll try to get as good as this guy! lol.



If you have some informative or just plain fun videos that you'd like to share with us, just email me the video (or the link).

Update

Today, I took a little break from making cupcakes and decided to go a slightly different route... A mushroom. Ok, so it's going to be like the same shape, but hey, I'm trying to make some sort of piggy bank or container thing, and that shape happens to work very well with the plan. I'll post a picture when I'm all done.

Anyway, this is going to be my 50th entry in Being Domestic and well, I'm pretty proud. I've accomplished quite a few things since the beginning of the project and it's only been about 3 months! I've baked bread, threw a party (without the help of my parents!), learned to crochet and make little toys, made some sock monkies...duct tape wallets... Just imagine what will come in the next 50 entires!

You may not be seeing too much of me in the next week or so because I'll be busy working most of the time and during my time off, I'm trying to work on a more expanded website for this blog. (I even bought the domain already!) So keep checking back to see when the website will launch (I'm hoping it'll be within the next two weeks or so) and in the meantime, add me as your friend at Myspace.

Another Crochet Cupcake

Ok, I know, I know, all I've been showing lately are cupcakes, but hey, who doesn't love them? It's bite sized cake! But really, I'm just trying to perfect it. This one here that my trusty assistant, Mr. Diva, is holding is about half the size of the last crochet cupcake. Instead of putting scallops on the edge of the cupcake, I tried to create some sort of edge at the bottom so that the cake part would hang over the cup just a little. And it worked until it got stuffed...it stretched out a little. And instead of a plain cake with a cherry on top this time, I put a little sort of glaze there and I really like the result. All in all, I'm really happy with this result, but next time, I have to find a way to stuff it better.

Yesterday, I made an ice cream cone and it turned out really well. I was at my boyfriend's house when I did it, so I didn't have the pillow stuffing I usually use. Instead, I used a sock and it came out really sturdy! Just not very squishy. I should find some sort of medium. Anyway, I gave it to my cousin for her 14th birthday but I didn't get to take a picture of it... Sorry! But I'll take one next time I see her, or maybe I'll just make another one.

Myspace Just Got Domestic

I think it might be a little overdue, but I finally got a Myspace account for my blog just so we can spread some domestic joy around a little more. I'm still working on the layout and stuff so it doesn't look so lame, so excuse the plain jane look of it. What can I do? I can't escape the name.

Anyway, if you would like to be my friend, which you're more than welcome to, just add me!

One Delicious Beanie

This morning, (actually, it's yesterday morning, I haven't realized how late it is!) I decided to take a break from crochet toy foods and make something a little more useful...like a beanie. Well, I was off to a good start, but after about the 12th row, I realized that the beanie was coming out just a tiny bit too small for an adult head (especially mine!). I must have skipped a few TOO MANY stiches. By that time, I had already spent about 2 hours crocheting (on and off) and I wasn't going to waste it! So, I decided to turn it into a jumbo cupcake and well, I think it turned out good!

I applied the little scallop design to the edge that I discovered a few days ago. I think it gives it a nice dainty touch and looks more finished.

I didn't have a pattern for the bottom, so I decided to improvise as I went along. I crocheted a circle slightly smaller than the circumference of the top, crochet only the front loop when it was the right size to make it bend upwards and then continued crocheting only adding a few stiches to some of the rows, but for the most part, I kept it the same amount of stiches throughout.

Then, of course, I added my signature pom pom cherry on top, stuffed, and sewed it together. Voila! Another plush cupcake from yours truly and this time, it's crochet! I'm on my way to some quality amigurumi!

The Joy of Soy

I've been a little afraid to try these nutrition bars that have been sitting on the coffee table for about a week now because I'm not sure whose it is...but mostly because well, I love good food, and from my experience, healthy food...doesn't always taste good. So today, I had a late lunch, which made me pretty hungry by 10:00 pm. I got a little desperate since I didn't want to eat a whole meal and I tried one of those bars. I got to choose from Mango Coconut, Apple, and Berry (I checked their website and they have one more flavor available which is Raisin Almond). So, I tried Mango Coconut since Apple and Berry seem like such generic flavors. The result, not bad at all! So I went ahead and tried the other two bars (they're relatively small) and they're pretty good too. I mean, don't get me wrong, they certainly taste healthy, but this is one healthy snack that I wouldn't mind, after fresh fruits of course. If you're going to try it, I recommend the Mango coconut, it was pretty packed with flavor.

Almost Crochet Goodies

I just finished making my first attempt at a crochet cupcake and an ice cream cone. Well, considering I've been crocheting for about a week and it's my first attempt, it's pretty good... But I think I can do better. I just found a site with some promising links to free food inspired crochet patterns. I would give you the link to my ice cream pattern, but I think I'll save it for when I find a really good one. Or maybe when I learn how to create my own. I think my next little project will be a beanie just to take a little break from plush food. A small...very small break.

Chinese Baking School Results

Oh the joys of waking up early to sit in semi traffic on the way to El Monte (which is about 15 minutes--without traffic past Downtown L.A.). But really, if it weren't for the long drive, school today was wonderful. I was beginning to wonder if a skill like baking could even be taught since my experience with my current teacher (at another school) was just...well, horrible. Anyway, I'm glad to say that this teacher actually loves to teach... She's always offering tips and little tricks to make my life a litter easier, she didn't yell at me in frustration, or stress out about time management at all, actually, she told me to eat what the other class (which my mom is in) was making and relax while we let the cakes cool.

Ok, enough of the chat... You all want pictures!


Pandan and Coconut Roll and a Lemon Roll (they look weird because I left them in the plastic wrap because well, it would have lost its shape. I'm not good at rolling them, but after the plastic wrap it looks like I am!


Taro Filled Yellow Cake with some flowers and this "W" design kind of thing that I made. Yay!


Here's some Dimsum my Mom made. Clockwise from the top left: Pork Shumai, "Shark Fin" Dumpling (it just looks like a shark fin), and Beef Shumai. And they're all good! No MSG here!

I also made Tiramisu, but I didn't get to take a picture of it...sorry!