HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Some photos from dinner at my mom’s. This is a traditional Japanese New Year’s feast that she spends a week preparing.

Everything was as delicious as it looks

Taro Root with Gold Flakes for Propsperity

Cod

Salmon wrapped in thin slivers of Daikon

this was pretty yummy too

It’s gonna be a great year!!!

VERY excited to announce the release of my limited edition greeting cards in colab with Refinery 29 on sale now.

Sale ends December 1st and all packages are guaranteed to arrive by December 21st! Check them out here!

I decided to make the pillow for the rings that Akira would carry down the aisle for N + C’s wedding ceremony.

The snails have a really cute significance for N + C  and was a subtle theme throughout their wedding.

The pillow is a standard (smallish) 12 by 12 pillow, and I tried to design it so that the couple could use it in their new home after the wedding.

You would need just a few things.

1. A Pen to draw the shape.

2. A Soft printing block

3. Fabric Paints of your choice

4. Some sort of basic linoleum cutter

5.  A pair of scissors for cutting your block for better handling

6. A small brush to apply the paint to your stamp (forgot to include it in this pic)

1. Draw your shape.

I’m no expert and I’m relatively new to this type of printing, but I think keeping your shape simple and bold will yield better results.

2.

Carve your shape out using various tips on your cutter.

This will take a bit of practice, I recommend doing a few rounds and get to know the different cutting tips.

As you can see, it doesn’t have to be perfect ( I suppose it depends on the look you’re going for though) I’m kind of impatient so I don’t spend a ton of time with this step.

3.

I chose a very basic linen fabric for the pillow and cut it into a perfect 15 inch square.

I wasn’t sure what color I wanted to go with for the snails so I started with white (it didn’t really show up against the linen) I tried red, but it was a bit too contrasty, so I finally ended up with this brown color I mixed using red, a teeny bit of black and white.

Roller applicators are great for larger stamp surfaces, but I find for a lil’ stamp like this one, a small brush to apply the fabric paint does just the trick.

When you are ready to start printing, I recommend allowing your fabric paint to dry a bit (maybe wait an hour) this actually makes the paint tackier & will make the stamping easier (I find when the paint is too wet the shape of your stamp when pressed on the fabric will result in a blobbier shape.) Definitely do a few practice runs on scraps of the fabric (preferably the same type of fabric you will use in your project)

4.

I forgot to take a photo of me actually printing onto the fabric, so here’s a larger version of the photo above.

5.

I wanted a sort of symmetrically filled out..yet random pattern look so I took a fabric pencil and laid out where I wanted the shapes to end up.  I let these puppies dry for a few hours and then onto sewing.

I didn’t take photos of the pillow making process but there are TONS of tutorials on the web. My sewing machine crapped out on me so I had to do this one by hand, it was kinda nice…it’s been years since I’ve actually sewed anything completely by hand!

I did tuft the pillow which is super easy, here’s a basic tutorial and covering your own buttons are now easier than ever. Dritz has this awesome new kit  (new to me) that makes it SO easy, this whole button covering business used to take me forever but now with this silicone mold it takes like 1 minute max!

6.

I braided a few baker’s twine together to create a temporary place for the rings to live.

But it could easily be untied so that it can go back to being a just a pillow again.

Akira was the ring bearer in Nick & Chelsea’s wedding.

I found this great tutorial on bowties for little people. The fabric is from an old pair of curtains I got at Ikea over 15 years ago…tee hee!

he LOVED his new Toms

They’re discussing how important his job is on this special day.

my good friends Nick & Chelsea got married in Bisbee, Arizona last weekend. The best thing about destination weddings is the involuntary vacation aspect of it. We would have never known about Bisbee… we had such a great time.

It’s an old mining town and it gave me so much inspiration. Thank you N + C !!!