Creative Fire

Ten words about me.

* * *

1. Fiery

2. Passionate

3. Driven

4. Dynamic

5. Intelligent

6. Spirited

7. Artistic

8. Determined

9. Focused

10. Fearless

Feel the force of my fiery creative intelligence.

I will move mountains and cross oceans to manifest my dreams.

* * *

Woke up feeling beleaguered. This exercise was a good antidote. And a hot cup of tea!

The Secret Piece

Unlock the lock of the secret garden in your heart, fill it with the antique romance that is sometimes sad and sometimes sweet.

秘かに秘密の庭の鍵をあけてご覧。。時には酸っぱい、時には甘いアンティークの香りで包んみあげてください。

Flourish it with the golden rose and kortrijk soul.

柔らかく照らす薔薇の色とコルトレイクの宝で満ちて、

Allow your day to be special in all ways.

素敵なひと時を過ごすようと願います。

Practice open heart. Practice gratitude.

~~~

Every morning,

I OPEN MY HEART.

And ASK.

I ask for Inspiration. Guidance. Courage.

I ask for good work to come through.

Patience to deal with difficult people.

Perseverance through a tough patch.

Joy when I'm feeling persnickety.

Clarity and creativity for a productive work day.

Every morning,

I IMAGINE how I want to live my life.

And BELIEVE

the universe will provide a path.

~~~

Every night, before bed,

I say THANK YOU.

I think of what gave me JOY,

and thank the universe for the

BLESSINGS OF THE DAY.

For a job well done, a smile of support.

Safe travels through the rain.

My loving little sis's visit from Tokyo!

{xoxo}

Loving words from my dear husband.

I GIVE THANKS

for my health, my body, my four limbs, my heart, my mind.

Every night, I call to mind

the BOUNTIFULNESS of the universe,

and feel immense gratitude for

this WONDERFUL LIFE I have.

~~~

I started this practice a few months ago, when I was in a rut. And it brought hope and peace to my heart.

Pillow Beds for your Petit Bijou

I have always wanted something different for my babies. Where I came up to this beautiful pillow beds for dogs♫ The blue one is made with souleiado flower print fabric to achieve an european taste. The hand stitches gives an accent to the bed, where a more vintage touch can be gain after washed. The decorated ribbon can be a chewing toy for your baby and also helps to gain a more vintage look after chewed!! The more you used it, the more valuable it gets♪

While the beige one is made with liberty flower print fabric and purple stripe fabric to give it a vintage touch. The soft beige tone is so natural that it can be also a decorating piece for the interior♫ Both of these can be found at my doggie wears brand, 'Piccola Nuvola'♫

Something that comes in beautiful worth much more

Got this unique ring from Cerasus today that comes together with the box and dry flowers in it. 'Cerasus' is the accessory line for ladies wear 'Vlas Blomme'. A brand that is very unique and really putted lots of effect on every piece of design. Not only on the product itself but also for the total package. From materials to craftmanship, from designs to package, everything makes the pieces worth a thousand more.

They also appreciate other designers a lot. Where they do collabrations with a lot of other designers together to exchange ideas and to creat more interesting pieces that are more like art than just a product. Like this wreath that I got was a collabration with a garden designer and also a plant coordinator called 'Green Fingers'. So beautifully made that will surely be a piece that I will like to put up every christmas♪

Kotori Flower Shop

I'm not at all a fan nor an expert for gardening. I seldom buy flowers for I never like it when they die out, and I'm not that good at remembering to water them either... I think that's why I rather like dry flowers or preserved ones that are nice to decorate and easy to take care of. ( You just dust them :p)

But this flower shop I came across from the net is so beautiful. The mood and taste is what I love♡ Through it, I got lots of inspirations on the idea to decorate my house! (Even if I may not be using flowers or plants...) I think their pictures are so nice that I really want to share. Hope you will like it too - Kotori Flower Shop (The Little Bird Flower Shop)

Slippers for a rainy day

It was a dreary, rainy weekend in San Francisco after l'il sis left. I hunkered down at home, and went to work with my hands. And here's the result! A cute footsie of smiles for a rainy day!

As a starting point, I found a cute pattern on Sugar'n Cream's website. But I wanted to use some odd skeins of leftover yarn, so I had to improvise in terms of the color patterns. My color scheme looked a little too old and "granny-like," so I decided to put the flower off-center to make it more lively. I also added a little Maryjane strap to make it look cuter—and also to help keep it on my feet better! This also allowed me to use some buttons that's been sitting in my craft box for over 10 years!

Napkin Sewing Project: Part 2

So this is how my sewing project came out. The napkins go beautifully with our straw place mats.

Inspired by my sister, here are a few websites/blogs that I found and now follow for crafting inspiration.

Contemporary Embroidery

I like the Ruanne's sensibility and style.

The Purl Bee

I love their projects—so much more interesting and in tune with my interests. Most other sewing/knitting websites feel so old-fashioned and ugly.

Embroidery as Art

Just like to see how avant-garde things can get, even if I may not quite do the same thing.

Atelier Vanira

Trying to start re-decorating my house by doing it bits by bits. As big projects needs big fund and time, I will try starting on the small ones as a warm-up. Maybe this will help me to focus and find out what I really want so as to gather everything into one!!

So here is the first piece of interior I bought which I like it very much. It is from 'Atelier Vanira', a lady I knew from 'twitter'. It was not an expensive art piece, but the lady who made it really loves what she does, which is what made it very special and neat. All are hand made with very good taste. Especially for the little sewing machine ornament, which is my favorite!! Exchange conversations on 'twitter' just lets me to know more about her. Knowing someone and her obsess on what she does allows you to understand more about her work, where you can really feel the power within the art piece. Looking through this little piece of art just makes me stop by to enjoy the moment of the day.

家をきれいにしようと思ってるので、少しずつ変えて行こうと決意しました。大物だと経済面の時間もかかるので、取りあえず小さいものから手を出してみました。これで、したいテイストも分かりやすくなり、まとめ方も統一しやすくなるかなと思っています。

なので、'Atelier Vanira'さんの作品を購入しました。彼女とは'twitter'で知り合え、彼女の趣味や情熱も写真や会話を通して伝わってきて、いつの間に彼女の作品は奇麗だけではなく、温かみのある商品にも感じてきました。作者（ひと）を知り、物がもっと美しく見えるってこういうことですね。手作りと言っても、とてもセンスのある作品で、とくにミシンのチャイムが好きです。眺めるだけで、心が和みます。

Labit Restaurant in Shibuya Tokyo

Went to this really unique restaurant in Shibuya the other day to celebrate the birthday of 2 very close friends of mine. It was about 10 mins walk from Shibuya station right after you turn the corner of a main street. Seems to be a bar in the night where they also serve lunch in the afternoons. It is called rabbit in japanese, but the english name is in 'Labit'. The interiors are a mixed of rabbits items & old english interiors. Gives you a little fantasy going up the stairs, bringing you back to the old days of childhood dreams.

Food were also served in a very unique way, having it beautifully decorated. I'm not so in to my main dish which was grilled fish. But the first plates were awlsome. Most of them were made with avocado, combination of western and japanese. Like the avocado tofu mousse that goes with the soya sauce and salted cod roe mixed with mashed potatos were so great that inspired me to try to make some myself too!! I think atmosphere also counts a lot for a good meal, where we did spend hours enjoying the food and the little lady talks!! Well, I think I must start up with the re-decoration on my house too!!

Report to sis: napkin sewing project

So, my dear l'il sis has challenged me to put my sewing machine to good use and commit to a project! So here is a simple project to kick-start, out of the Lotta Jansdotter sewing book I love but have never used!

I bought the cloth from Japan Town a couple of years ago, but never used the remainder after making a simple covering for our shoe rack. So this meets sis's criteria of not buying new things, and using what I already have.

The one thing I had to buy is an iron. We only realize our iron is missing when sis was here and in need of one! I bought a cheap one from Amazon that arrives tomorrow.

In the mean time, as preparation, I finally took the time to organize my mixed-up bag of sewing supplies and buttons neatly. Amazing how many buttons I have collected over the years!

Feng Shui California style

Growing up as a French-style-educated, scientifically-minded Catholic school girl in Hong Kong, I rejected all forms of Chinese tradition that smacked of superstition and backwardness. Never mind that my dad was a Tai Chi and Feng Shui master.

So it's oddly predictable that, as an adult living in San Francisco, I have embraced my roots and overhauled my home to Feng Shui principles!

While some die-hards will argue that Feng Shui in America is inauthentic and superficially lite, I'd argue that it is in many ways closer to the origins of what Feng Shui is all about—creating an environment that feels good and supportive to our goals, and that energizes and uplifts our spirit. Feng Shui here feels more like thoughtful and mindful home decor, than the black-box, alchemic school of Feng Shui I grew up with.

This feels much more empowering than the "traditional" Feng Shui of fear and anxiety of my youth. In Hong Kong, people become slaves to commercial Feng Shui gurus who often focus on the negatives, charging fortunes to advise folks on costly and inconvenient ways to correct "unlucky" layouts in their homes and offices.

Now that I'm more open to the true spirit of Feng Shui, I begin to understand the wisdom in my father's advice. That the most important principle in Feng Shui is being aware, and feeling and listening with our heart, mind and soul to what feels right and good to us. Paying Feng Shui masters to "trick" the universe is just a waste of money and energy.

Ramen - Kaede (楓)

Had japanese ramen for lunch today. This store is call 'Kaede' and as a ramen store, the interior is quite modern and chic. They have a very rich soya sauce base soup with very strong dried skipjack tuna flavor which makes you sipped off all the soup. Noodle is in medium thickness, which is very chewy and has a perfect chemistry with the soup that gives a perfect balance in your mouth. (Not too salty, not too light!!) Really big recommend♪

Disaster Prevention Day

1st Sept is the 'Disaster Prevention Day' in japan. This day is established to mark the Great Kanto Earthquake that happened in 1923. This day is to remind everyone to take precautions to natural disasters like earthquake and typhoons. Since Hong Kong don't have earthquakes, sensing the little shakes from time to time actually frightens me sometimes. That's why I do have a bag packed under my bed with water and emergency food. A lot of supermarkets will have a corner selling preserved can biscuits and packs of water so as to remind you to check on the due date of the things you have prepared before. Unfortunately, not a lot of people takes precautions... they always have a way of thinking that it won't happen to them. But luckily, at least the radios kept talking about natural disasters for the whole day, encouraging people to be more concern. Here are some tips I learned today, hope if will be useful to you too! (but better that you won't need to use it...)

- When an earthquake occurs and you are having the kettle on. Don't go and try to switch off the fire or leave the house, first of all find a safe place that objects won't fall over on you until the quakes stops. Trying to turn off the fire might cause burns from the fire or hot water instead. And leaving the house might cause big objects to fall on you.

- If you are stuck in a car in a sudden flood, stay calm and don't try opening the door. The pressure outside is bigger then inside the car where you won't be able to open it and in the other hand you will use up all your strength and you may panic more. Wait until the water is about your height, the pressure will change and you shall be able to open the door of the car.

- When earthquakes occurs, pay phones are easier to connect than mobile phones.

- If you have a pet with you, and you running away from objects falling over you. Be careful that you don't crush your pet while grabbing hold on her. A lot of pets died because of that, while you are panicking, you may not be good at controlling your strength. The best is to have a carry bag ready with your emergency goods.

Hope these tips can be useful to someone when it is in need. Of course, the best is to bless everyone to be safe and sound.

Magazine I like to share - Palm Magazine

This magazine 'Palm' published by japan is about 2 years old, I think (publishes twice a year, and there is only 4 Vol. now...). I love it very much, the image & the mood is what I fantasy when I was young. The magical in it just touches me and inspires me. Vol. 4 is out, just can't wait to get it from the bookstore.

Summer Festivals - Japan

Summer is a season for festivals in japan. Fireworks, Mikoshi parade (portable shrine), harvest celebrations, etc etc. In the province that I lived also have this incredible big festival every year. While the station I lived in is the main station for this province, we were always able to just walk there!!

As all years, each shrine or district will bring out their Mikoshi for a parade. Mikoshi are small little buildings like a shrine. It is known to be use when you need to bring the god out of the shrine. In another words, you can say its the god's car!! Seems like it started in the past so as to pray for good harvest. (For more details you can go over here for a look 'Mikoshi'.) You can also see a lot of traditional performance from the Mikoshi, where people wears the traditional character mask and dance. A lot of these dancers are children too!!

Some province Mikoshi are just used to walk around the districts, some other places will have lots of them from different shrines (like where I lived), where they will act like showing their fierce when they come into each other on the way. So as to stimulate more power to bless the peasants.

Anyway, most of the people that come to join the crowd - like me, will be dressed in yukata (summer casual traditional japanese wear like kimono) and are here to enjoy the energy and power and have a nice time with the hawkers food!! If you have the chance to come to Japan in the summers, I do recommend late July & Aug, where it is the peak season for festivals!!