Lost in Translation; or; Capybaras ... how cute are they??

Hello, konnichiwa and other cliched greetings from Japan!

There is so much to say that I don`t know where to begin. The cuteness is just overwhelming! The craft shops are overflowing! And the souvenirs are filling up my suitcase!
I will just quickly share with you my newest obsession - kapibarasan!
Yes, it's a capybara. Who hangs out with a camel.

Here is the 3-D version. They come in about 5 different sizes and you are supposed to display them stacked　on top of each other with the biggest at the bottom and the smallest on the top. Cute and tidy!

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Here he is (or she? I don't know!) in board book version:

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I haven't seen any of the books myself yet, but they also come on tote bags, keyrings, etc. I have a smallish plush one, a coin purse-head one and a bag charm one. I tried to buy a second bag charm from a gashapon (plastic egg dispenser) machine, but it ate my money. *pouts* I have about 30 gashapon so far of everything from cheesy 70s TV show monsters to marble heads of ancient greek personages to an actual fossil.

And cause I`m a librarian at heart, here`s a picture of a real capybara for reference:

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The real thing is just about as cute as the Japanised version, I think!

Mosaic Monday - Japan, here I come!

This is just a little post to let it be known that I haven't done any craft lately, and won't be for the next few weeks. I have a good reason, though! I've been insanely busy preparing for my trip to Japan. Boy and I leave in 2 days' time and I'm completely beside myself with excitement, fear and all-around general craziness!

I'm not going to take any craft supplies with me as I don't think I'll get time to fit any crafting in. I mean, if I'm sitting on my butt at home every night and I'm not crafting, then I doubt I'll be doing it on an overseas trip! (For the record, I've been more inclined to play computer games than craft lately. I go through phases, I guess. I try not to beat myself up about it. But that's a-whole-nother post!

Sure, I have plenty of time on the plane and in the airport to work on a portable project. 20 hours each way by my calculations! But no. No knitting needles or crochet hooks allowed in the carry-on luggage. How $*%&(@# frustrating! I got excited all over again when I thought to take some pencils and drawing paper to practice my drawing instead. However, Boy seems to think that pens and pencils may not be allowed in carry-on luggage as they might be considered to come under the heading of sharp objects. I'll be so @#$%($& if that's the case! I've decided to take 2 sets of pencils in case the carry-on ones get confiscated. I'm also taking glue stick, scissors and glitter glue (in my suitcase) to decorate my travel journal with. The notebook I bought is 100 pages long, and I wondered how on earth I would fill it up? Then I had the idea to make it into a themed art journal as well. So I will do lots of drawings in it, stick in photos and postcards, and make pockets in it to store brochures that I'm sure I'll collect along the way. Right now I'm probably more excited about that than anything else.

Here is my list of things to buy in Japan:
* fabric, ribbons, trims and buttons
* stationery
* special paper (for glue-less bookbinding, origami, etc)
* crazy crazy foods (though I won't be able to bring those back)
* religious paraphernalia (shinto, buddhist and taoist, if they have it)
* gaming merchandise
* figurines with flocking on them (that fuzzy, suede-like stuff) I don't know why but I love that right now!
* craft books and magazines
* all things amigurumi
* some things steampunk

I'm hoping I'll be able to post a couple of times to keep you updated. There's an internet cafe at the hotel we're staying in. Just gotta. Not. Log. On. To. Twitter.........

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P.S. How about that Presidential election? What a rollercoaster ride!

Eight Great Things to do on Your Lunchbreak

This post stems mainly from the fact that now I'm on contract instead of a casual worker, I have to have an hour for lunch and finish at a set time instead of taking half an hour and finishing earlier - or whenever I like. *pouts*

* Go for a walk.
My new book Walk off Weight has you walking every day at different speeds and duration until, 8 weeks later, you are fitter and healthier than before. (Then you start over at Advanced Level). This has the added advantage that I won't have to do cardio exercise after work, and I will have more time to do my Susan Powter strength training video or my yoga DVD when I get home.

* Do online drawing course.
I have been wanting to take a drawing course for a few years now, but didn't have the money, time or courage. Perhaps this one?

* Do shopping chores.
Need to go to the chemist, or Lincraft, or the art supplies shop? Why wait til after work when you can get it out of the way in your lunchbreak?

* Maintain shop / post in blog.
Yes folks, you may be hearing from me a lot more often from now on!

* Do craft in the park.
How relaxing and lovely would that be? I'm lucky enough to have 2 fabbo parks just next door to my building! Just one of the few perks of working for the government. I could also listen to educational podcasts while I'm crafting and kill two birds with one stone.

* Catch up on reading blogs.
Let's face it - I have so many blogs on my reader that this is never going to happen! But it's fun trying.

* Visit art galleries.
How many art galleries are within 2 blocks of my building? At least 3 I can think of off the top of my head. There must be more. Get some culcha up ya and go to some galleries!

* Cook a hot lunch - using the microwave and toaster oven!
I love cooking and I love a challenge!

Neglecting you again in thus manner

Again I have no photos of my own to show you. Trust me, it would be really boring. I made a shoe bag on the weekend to give Boy for his birthday. (It's okay, I'm not spoiling anything, it's already been given.) However, I'm going to take it back and do a little extra reinforcing stitching on it and put a different drawstring in it. That's ok to do to someone's gift, right?

I started an art journal page yesterday. Puzzle pieces and other confusing, maze-like images are the main theme. I'm not sure what I'm trying to express.

My zombie craft of choice lately has been knitted flowers. I plan on creating a whole army of them to take over all my shopping bags and embellish them to death! Yes, there shall be sequins!

(I'm a little nutty at the moment because I'm at work on the late shift and I'm all alone in the basement. *rocks back and forth* All I have is this webcam [link inactive] of the Melbourne skyline to keep me company. Yes, it is sunny. In the Above Land.)


Meanwhile, I have a strong urge to order hundreds of pens and pen accessories from this site: JetPens. *gurgles* Patience grasshopper, you will have your fill of Japanese pens soon.....

Speed Blogging, Part 4

Knitted Flower on Knitting Bag, originally uploaded by salihan.

Hey all,

Last night I finished/started some more knitted flowers. Anything more complicated is really beyond me at the moment.
My head's in an airplane and the rest of me is grounded at work!

Photos of that would be really boring, so I posted a much prettier flower from Flickr. Perhaps I'll try making that one when my head's screwed back on.

Mosaic Monday - Softies

So sure, it's Friday. But that pretty much reflects my whole crafty activity schedule lately.
Goals - uncompleted. Thoughts - unthought. Ideas - unhad. Crafts - unmade.

Here are a few things I've been obsessed with though:

Softies! How wonderful are they? I can completely understand why people collect them. Here's a quick summary mosaic from Flickr:

Today I also joined Twitter. At first I thought, what on earth is the point of this site? But then people started adding me ('following me' is the term they use, as if I'm some kind of goddess! Heh!). So I started looking at their profiles, and their shops or blogs, and who follows them, etc etc. And I guess that means that some of them are looking at my profile/blog/shop, hopefully!

P.S. Stephen Fry is following me!!!! How surreal!

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Photo Credits:
1. Georgette & Lisette - Conjoined Twins plush, 2. Handsome Devil and P.T. Stitchy, 3. E, 4. horned ghost, 5. australian shepard plush, 6. Petronilla Oetingerilla, 7. Blue Mommy softie and kitten, 8. for etsy's upcycling contest, 9. Softie Mclovely Dinosaur "I'm ready for my close up", 10. for etsy's upcycling contest, 11. Frederick The Panda, 12. Puppy Forget Me Not, 13. Creature Feature: Alien - amigurumi, 14. jellimo kid dex, 15. Bjorn @ etsy.com, 16. reindeer oobees!!, 17. Striped bean softie, 18. Blue Siamese Kitty, 19. three chaps, 20. Dinosaur @ etsy.com, 21. new dolls, 22. Cute Face, 23. Prancer,Cupid & Donner, 24. Family :), 25. Luke The AstroNaughty

Pronto!

Hello! Just a quick update on what I've been making.
I apologise in advance - all my photos came out a bit fuzzy today. It was just one of those days, I guess!

There's these bookmarks that I made for a swap. The actual swap was for a Reading Log - these were extra treats:

Creative, no? No, not really.
[The text reads: "Let's get married, go home and read a book. "Sure thing, dollface!"] It was quite fun working with the airbrush pen and collage, though I think my mojo was a bit off that day. Then today I made this:

L for Lenny.
Well, technically I cut it out last week, embroidered it on the weekend and sewed it tonight. It's a pouch to keep my mouse and laptop cables in. Note the wonkiness of the sewing along the zip and ric rac. It's actually a lot more pronounced in real life. It's just for me though, so who cares! I bought a bulk lot of 50 zips on Ebay today, so I'll be able to practice quite a bit!

Then this happened! The plushes that I bought in the Softies for Mirabel auction arrived!

I have decided to call the one on the left Miranda. It just popped into my head and I tend to trust that. The car ones on the right are called Beep, Toot and Vroom. I am going to keep them in my car. (It's my first anniversary of getting her it, so they're a bit like an anniversary gift.) My own Monstrous Muriel has popped up in the middle there. She just loves to socialise! This morning I almost had the feeling that she was looking at me, but then again, it was 6.30am and I was distracted with getting ready for work. I do like the way her face has turned out though - much more expressive than I had hoped for.

Speaking of Monstrosity, Etsy has created a new item category for dolls, which has forced me to decide whether Muriel et al are toys or dolls. Or art toys or art dolls. Or soft sculpture. Geez, I don't know!!