Swag Bag 2014 Summer

Of course I couldn't resist myself from the Urban Craft Uprising swag bag! Like last year I got up early to get in line for this baby. Summer is beautiful this year in Seattle. Sun is brighter, sky is clearer, air is warmer. It was very enjoyable as we waited outdoor that morning. And finally, at 11am, the door opened and we were greeted with the volunteers, handing out bags for the first 100 visitors. Image above showed the goodies in my bag.

Last year's swag bags, from both summer and winter shows, were more excited and surprising (with more goodies too) compared to this year...or maybe it was just my bag and I gave too high of a hope BUT hey this is free and I am very grateful for all the hardwork the volunteers put into this. The show was great and the bag was a nice little bonus!

If you want to know more about the wait and what this UCU swag bag is, check out my previous article here.

Crafty Time

For the passed few months I have been busy moving and making a living, with zero updates on neither my blog/DA/etsy. Finally the annual summer craft show came back in July, and gave me a good opportunity (aka excuse) to enjoy some crafty time again. This year, besides volunteering at the craft show, I also did a little trading project with some of the awesome crafters/artists. Above is my first and favorite trade of the year; a lovely + soft + fashionable scarf from Tuesday Scarves.

It was such a pleasure to meet Rian, the owner of Tuesday Scarves. She is a very sweet and awesome lady. The scarves she made were super high quality, which explained why her booth was always filled with customers! I passed by her booth at least 10 times before having the chance (and guts) to talk to her. And what made me most grateful was that by the moment I pulled out the Bee Flower I prepared for her, Rian showed a big smile and told me she loves/collected bubble bee and agreed the trade right away! No words can express how excited and appreciated I was (and still am). Now I just wish winter can come sooner so I can start wearing this lovely new scarf!

Another item I traded was a cute little booklet from Odd FAUNA. I saw Emma and her illustrations before and enjoyed her creativity. When I spotted her booth in the show I identified her art right away and knew I wanted to trade with her! It took a lot of courage to go up to someone famous and asked for a trade...but ultimately I did and successfully traded her print book with my Hot Air Balloon. She even signed it for me and did I mentioned her signature is very cute? I also hope this book can inspire me and give me new ideas on crafting and drawing.

Last but not least, something I wanted to save to the last was the Whale print from The Little Red House, by Aggie Cheung, traded with my yellow Silly Bear. Partnered with her friend Tracey Ko from buluchu, these two talented ladies traveled from San Francisco to join the craft show for the first time. I was so happy to find out that they are originally from Hong Kong and immediately we chatted in Cantonese. It was great to see them being happy and successful chasing their dreams. They even encouraged me to join the craft show next time...maybe one day I will be sitting next to them selling my own crafties (day-dreaming). Again, they are super nice and sweet. I feel like I did not only trade a print but also a friendship from SF. Hope to see them again in the winter show!

International Day of Happiness

March 20th is the first day of Spring...it is also the International Day of Happiness! Hope you have a fabulous and happy Thursday! :)

(A new term I just learned...Happy Vernal Equinox!!!)

Sakura Strawberries

Image captured from the tutorial video.

Spring starts today! Let's celebrate the fresh, charming season with this beautiful sakura inspired strawberry ice-cream. 

I really want to try a sakura flavored Häagen-Dazs! Let me know if you have seen them before. *winks*

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy Festival Day! May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck! xoxo

8 Super Foods for Kidney Health

Information by Feelgood Health.

Illustrations by me.

It is Kidney Day today, which inspired me to do a little health-tips illustration. I am not a nutritionist; just wanted to share some good tips in a fun way. Please ask your doctor if you have any questions or in doubts. :)

Package from Germany

At the beginning of March I received a package from Germany. It is a prize I won from a raffle held by Anne Pätzke (details below) and I was so excited and waited for weeks for its arrival. Finally the sun come out today (precious thing when you live in a rain city!) so I took a picture and share with you.

The artwork on this adorable board game is done by Anne Pätzke, a talented & professional artist based in Germany. I followed Anne's page 10+ years ago when I first joined DevianArt. Her art is always inspiring and I admire her talent a lot. As a girl who rarely won any raffles/drawings before, winning this board game makes me feel like all my luck was saved for it lol. And I love the bunny postcard even more because it is my favorite characters by Anne *happy tears*...Now I just need to learn German so I can read the instruction!

Check out Anne's art here. You don't want to miss it! :)

And thank you again (x10000 times) for holding this raffle and sharing your art with us.

100 Free Fonts

100 free fonts for designers.

Happy 2014 - Silly Bears

My first post of 2014 goes to these four little guys:

They are my latest Amigurumi creations. I named them the Silly Bears because of their silly facial expression lol.

The black and white Silly Bears are meant to be a pair. Each of them has a cute little heart needle felted on the body. They would be the perfect Valentine's Day gift, serving as a couple keychain!

The yellow and blue Silly Bears have a red bow instead and it immediately turned them into a gentleBEAR! lol

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! If you are interested to learn more about these silly guys, visit my etsy store!