Yarns on the Brains

Yarn Basket Head Print @ LiPeony

I've been going though an artist block though maybe it could be due to the heat wave coming though. Yesterday I did have a stroke of inspiration and drew some new sketches like the one above and I'll be having some Chibi Boy drawings up too! I'm very excited since at craft fairs people ask whether I have some boy drawings. Which reminds me of a forum post I was reading about "Etsy Product Gaps" which mentions the lack of boys and men items. If you want some ideas or mention something of your own it's still quite active so check it out!

Lately I've been busy between making something for a friend and also crocheting away a blanket for my boyfriend. I just think of it as a really really big scarf. So far the length covers a king size bed and the width is 18 inches and building. I used about 6 skeins of yarn and i brought four more but I know I will need a lot more. My deadline is the third week of September... so a bit a day... a bit a day.

Which reminds me living in NYC the closest Micheal's is quite a bit away and the nearest A.C Moore is somewhere in Long Island or New Jersey... so I rely on this small place called P & S Fabrics Corp in Lower Manhattan. The place is fairly big and they have tons of yarn including the one color yarn that neither Micheal's or A.C Moore sold (to my dismay) and crochet/knitting supplies. They also have random notions... ribbons, thread, fabric chalk, buttons etc. I spent tons of time browsing though the patterns that include things from kid's costumes to everyday wear. I found a Pokemon pattern I want to try!
They also have a lot of fabric including some cheap scraps which are pretty big. There's also a downstairs for heavy fabrics and batting. One thing I did like about this place is that it's cheaper to buy using cash like 50 cents cheaper here and there but they add up. The things were slightly more organized then the other fabric places I've been to in NYC. The location and the sheer variety of stuff they have makes this place a go-to for me. Plus it's also close to Pearl Paint a huge store of art supplies etc.

I found out about another knit/crochet store close by in SoHo called Purlsoho that looks very very promising. I will have to stop by sometime today =D . As you can see I'm a pretty big fan of Yelp because it offers reviews and comments on tons of stores and places in the city. If you're ever in NYC and wonder about places Yelp is a great place to gauge where you want to go.

Until next time... get crafty!

Belated Goodies

It's been forever but I finally got the pictures from my boyfriend's camera! Here's all the swag I got from Otakon! Besides the usual maps/event list/magazine that comes with the Otakon bag I brought five shirts one for my old college roomier, her fiance, my other h.s. college buddy, my cousin and my sister. I also snagged some cute cute pins (I'm a sucker for pins) and went to the "Welcome to the Space Show" Panel.

The production staff who created that movie also created "Read or Die" which is the anime that my cosplay "Yomiko Readman" is from. I got to see them and they were so polite and there was a lot of thoughtful questions between the audience and the staff. What really made my day was when it was the staff's turn to ask the audience question, one of them asked about my cosplay. I was way too shy to say anything. I also got all three autographs on the first R.O.D manga and had them sign it to "Yomiko" and it was great to see them and I think it was a surprise that they saw someone cosplay as Yomiko since the series is fairly old. I blushed like mad when they commented I made a cute Yomiko. This experience has made this Otakon the best of the four years I've been attending this convention.

Here's me doing what Yomiko Readman does best.. reading =)
For More Otakon Pictures check out my Flickr =D

Until next time... be inspired by inspiring people!

Fireflies and Shadows

Jar of Fireflies @ LiPeony
So odd it's already mid August and I see people gearing up for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm still not ready to say good bye to those lazy days of summer. Lately I've had a huge artist block and after looking at my drawings decided to do another firefly silhouette piece. There's something about fireflies that literally makes them magic you find in your backyard. Besides the fact that their light emission is like 98% efficient it reminds me of that lazy day with my bf a few years back when he caught me some fireflies. Even though I am afraid of bugs these fireflies were amazing... I have lived in the city all my life so this was the first time I've witness their magic for myself. They are really magical... now I know why they hold this place in people's hearts... it's the tiny things... nature's tiny living stars...

until next time... the most wonderful things come in the smallest package...

Otakon Cosplay

Otakon this year was the best. This would be the 3rd or 4th time I went. Between me and my bf we took tons of pictures of the cosplays and some are on my Flickr account. Here are some highlights of cosplays I thought that were cool. The above picture is looking over the fountain in the Baltimore Convention Center. This year it was so huge it took up the entire center and also part of the Hilton Hotel. The weather was beautiful and fortunate enough the weekend was between heat waves so it was very nice. The lines this year went by pretty fast with the new barcode system. I must have waited less then half an hour to get my badge. Unfortunately this year the badges they had to offer wasn't so diverse so I opted for a crab playing some drums.

The above I think is from Megaman. I love Megaman series and how they just name the characters. Like the guy that has the snake on his head is appropriately named "Snakeman" but as for the Lightbulbman I can't confirm his name. The reason I love this cosplay besides the throwback to classic games the light bulb on top of the head actually lights up! Now that's awesome. The battery pack was in the schoolbag hanging in front of him.

Another awesome throwback is these Street Fighter group of M. Bison, Ryu and Juri. I think they did an awesome job. There was also a martial arts skit done of Street Fighter and it's always great to see one. The ones above are a cosplay of this fictional boy band made of top Japanese Comedians that parodies today's boy bands. They did have a very infectious hit called "Yatta" which is an encouragement song that despite the economic uncertainty you're still breathing and there's always tomorrow. They were on Jimmy Kimmel Live and hilariously weird.

There were way too many cosplays to mention as so many of them took a lot of time and effort. This year was no disappointment but there were tons of cosplays I didn't see when I browse other people's photos. This year close to 30,000 people attended. I'm waiting to get the pictures of my own cosplay out of my bf's DSRL camera so I can post them and also of all the swag I bagged =D!

Until next time... "Yatta!" (we did it!)

Simple Congee

Every culture and country has it's own version of a food that is homey and in China "Jook/Congee" is that homey food perfect food that's warm, soothing and great for people who are ailing. My sister caught a pretty bad cold so I decided to try my hand at making some congee. I used the Rice Congee Soup Recipe as a base and changed it a bit to mimic the awesome congee my grandma use to make.

Ingredients (makes about 4-5 bowls):
1 cup of rice
9 cups of water
half an inch knob of ginger
1 tbls of salt (normally about 2 tbls but since the meat is already salty I halved it)
fist size salted pork

Slice the pork into small fingertip sized bites. Cut the outside of the ginger and leave whole (my grandpa suggested to leave the skin on because it's suppose to have some kind of healing properties) Add all the ingredients to a pot and boil it until it reaches your ideal consistency (some like congee watery and some like it more thick). Watch the pot or else it'll boil over. I usually boil it with the cover on for half an hour and then leave it to boil uncovered for another half an hour. Ta-da easy breezy and very good for colds/flu or a weak stomach. You can also substitute other things in it like different meats or seasonings. Green onion, tiny dried shrimps and scallops are common. Thousand year old eggs are also used if you like the unique flavor. My sister appreciated the congee and said it was surprisingly good. Here's a simple recipe if you ever need some comfort food =)

Until next time... stay well =)

Garden Goodies

Carrot and Rabbit Chibi Girl @ LiPeony

So summer is half gone and it's one of the hottest ones... phew... Besides that it's also middle of gardening season where people should be seeing the fruits of their labor springing to life! I'm not a gardener and besides the chili peppers outside my fire escape I've never grown any veggies or fruits. However my bf and his mom have been cultivating a rather nice garden in their backyard. Being a city girl I see how much work it does to maintain a garden from soil, making those wooden props/stakes to support the plants, watering, weeding etc. It's been about two or three months and lookie!

The tons of tomato plants are bearing little green tomatoes. I'm not a fan of tomatoes but everyone else I know love love tomatoes. I'm not sure how green tomatoes taste like but I remember reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder series The Little House Books that they once made a green tomato pie that tasted just like an apple pie and green tomato pickles. I haven't tried the two recipes yet but it seems intriguing. I do recommend the books... I read and have most of the whole series and definitely instilled in me a sense of adventure and survival.

Now here is the prize of my boyfriend. He's so extremely proud his little watermelon is growing. Those lines are from getting caught in the lattice that was supporting the plants. It's as big as his hand right there and hopefully it'll be big and sweet! They also grow chili peppers, chives and parsley. My mom and I are still waiting for our tiny fire escape chili peppers to grow some chilies =D

Until next time... how are you gardens coming along? =D

Finally Complete!

Phew! It's finally complete!!! WOOT! That is my cosplay (people don on costumes and act like a certain manga/comic/anime character) is done for Otakon. This year I'm doing Yomiko Readman from R.O.D (read or die) who is also a secret agent who is a bibliophile with the power of paper. In my previous post I had finished the vest which was a huge accomplishment for me. Today I got off my lazy butt and finished the coat. It took about 3 hours to finish.

It started out as a size 42 lab coat which was enormous on me and was discolored by the various staining one does in the lab. I bleached the whole thing for 10-15 minutes and to get the off tan color submerged the coat in a hot bath of water that had 10 packets of tea aka "Tea Dying". After an overnight dip it was a nice darkish tan color and I washed it so it became the perfect shade of light tan (this btw is a very simple and easy way to create that antique color look for fabric). I cut out the collar brown cuffs and pocket linings and sew those on. The sleeves were too long and it was way too wide so I slimmed it down and made the sleeves shorter. My cousin noted how it was too long so I cut about a foot off and hemmed it.

The above is the whole cosplay done! I'm very proud of how the whole thing came out. The hardest part would have to be the vest and sewing the sleeves back on. What makes me super excited is that the character designer, director and the producer of the R.O.D anime is also going to be attending. I'm hoping to get their signatures on a poster or DVD!

I have decided to make a briefcase as a prop but I'm not sure on whether I should make it elaborate. Since she can utilize paper as a weapon I was thinking of creating "floating cards" that seem to spill from the briefcase. I've thought of how to pull this off and I think some fishing string and thin wires and glue could be viable. Hmm ...

Total time: About 10-12 Hours
Total money spent: $18 ($16 worth of fabric, $2 for a fabric pencil)

Until next time... get the brain thinking and thinking!