A Haiku

Even though I started this blog for Etsy, I just wanted to mention this here, too...

I won a poetry contest!

http://www.vcbf.ca/haiku/2012-winning-haiku

It's sort of silly, but it does accept worldwide entries, which are judged over several months by at least one real established poet. So at least it's a legitimate contest of a decent scale. Plus I suppose entries support our local Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival by "raising awareness" (definitely a silly phrase, but I digress).

This could almost bring me out of the slump I've been in since I received my last rejection letter (because I stopped submitting fiction afterwards >:P) in late 2011. But I was surprised to find that what made me happier than winning was seeing the "like"s from my former wordsmith coworkers. Of course the little thumbs on Facebook don't mean much -- I spam them all the time -- but these are people who work with words themselves, and who usually don't "like" my inconsequential Facebook posts.

My heart is warm, even if my 1-bedroom is not. ("Utilities included" my arse.)

Anyway, my 2011 entries for the haiku invitational didn't even get an honourable mention, so this year I'll be content with 2nd place.

Next year, though... ;)

May is Over?

Oh dear. I've postponed the vacation pictures for so long that I haven't posted about anything else since April! I will get back to posting regularly once our June 23rd ballet recital is over.

For now, here's a quick image-heavy post to cover the end of April, all of May, and beginning of June. XD

 

I went to Victoria for Easter break and visited another castle! My first "real" Victoria trip with Raccoon (as opposed to quick weekend excursions) took place 2 to 3 years ago, when we visited Craigdarroch Castle and the Royal BC Museum.

This time, we got to see everything we couldn't fit into that first trip.

 

The castle grounds were just gorgeous. At least half of our few hundred photos were taken there.

We also visited this former nun school. It was too large to fit into one shot, but this is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the full building. I love the history and opulence of the place.

I'm not religious at all, but I think it's reasonable to say most people can admire Catholic iconography on an aesthetic level.

There was a meadow of unidentified star-shaped flowers outside, as well as smaller patches of bluebells, daffodils, buttercups, and (my favourite? :P) dandelions scattered about elsewhere.

This yellow dollhouse was the home of a prominent Canadian painter and writer. I really enjoyed walking around the beautiful heritage house, especially seeing or imagining what she had mentioned in her semi-autobiographical short stories and novels.

No trip to Victoria, however brief, is complete without tea at the Empress!

I also brought back some beautiful Irish linen and Belgium lace (handmade by true artisans!).

And of course, we tried the macarons from a local bakery. I'm not going to mention the name because they weren't very good (too hard, hollow, and lightly flavoured), but aren't the colours pretty? Perfect for Easter! ;)


Speaking of macarons, I tried the ones from Plasir Sucre in Vancouver yesterday:

Despite the flies crawling around beside them (...), we ordered one of each, plus some fruit tarts. The brand of tea they had wasn't very good at all, but the tarts were delicious.

The macarons, however, were uneven in quality. Of the six we had, two were dry and crumbly, two were soft and a little mushy, and two were the proper consistency. Since the owner didn't indicate the flavours, we had trouble identifying the odd aftertaste of the chocolate macaron, and the WHOLE taste of the strange peppery one. (It tasted like steak.)

It was a lovely afternoon, though!

And lest this becomes a "What I did this weekend" blog, here are two pictures from a visit to some iris fields in Washington (US) that show the bow-and-shorts set I made myself.

The thing on my head is a double bow with cotton lace on a flexible fabric-covered band. The bloomers (puffy shorts) are the same, with a vintage-style red resin rose on a lace bow on each side.

100% cotton fabric and cotton lace, completely hand-sewn without a machine. I spent about three days at work (the boss was away :P) and two evenings on them... while multi-tasking, of course.

What I've learnt from this latest project is that I SHOULD GO BUY A SEWING MACHINE.

I plan to keep my Etsy shop handsewn and OOAK, but for things I make for myself -- and I mean human-sized clothing and bags -- there is really no point in putting so much time and care into them!

New Doll and Tea Time Photos

This is going to be a "photo dump" sort of post. ;)

New doll for March

Disclaimer: I made this doll for the Dollmakers Team challenge -- "green and a pattern" -- which ran through the whole month, so it's not a belated St. Patrick's Day doll. :P

As you can probably tell from the photo, Vancouver is finally seeing sunshine again! It actually snowed again last week, but NEVER MIND THAT. Soon I'll actually be able to post new items with slightly less terrible photos!



Well, these two photos are still terrible. :P I took them at dusk.

Anyway, I finally finished the embroidery I was working on, and turned the material into a lavender sachet. It's sitting on my table right now, smelling heavenly.



Made this new head-bow out of beautiful Cath Kidston fabric, to go with my new green lolita JSK. The band is more teal than green, so I'll need to mount it on a different headband or maybe a ribbon.

ETC bolero, In the Starlight OP

Here I am, having tea downtown on St. Patrick's Day. The tea cosies were felted from "upcycled" vintage sweaters... How Etsy is that?!

Scone shot!

Indie Japanese brand JSK, Jane Marple socks, DC blouse

Here I am, a week later, at a brand new tea house by the sea. The tea house itself is a heritage building, and the interior is black and pink and French/princess-themed!



Here's a partial shot of the food. Who doesn't like to look at pretty food? ;D

Yume coat, AP tote, Infanta dress, H&M tights

Here I am, just yesterday, at another relatively new tea place by a different beach. ;)

It was a grey, rainy day, so the area was entirely deserted. I love the rain and my significant other hates parking in tight spaces, so it worked out perfectly for both of us HAHA.



As you can probably tell, this place is more "Asian" than "English afternoon tea". The food was nothing spectacular (Raccoon says it tasted like it came from Costco) but the tea service and tea were solid.

Then, while buying tea at a sweet little shop nearby, I found this adorable miniature tea set!!! It's not the fanciest thing ever, but the bordeaux flowers & gold trim are neatly done. And because it was missing the second cup, I got it for less than $10!!❤❤❤



Raccoon said the pieces would be too large for my doll and too small for our stuffed animals, but I didn't believe him. I guess the picture above proves he was right...

:'P

Looking back, it has been a wonderful month! I've definitely been spending WAY too much on pretty clothes and vintage books and delicious tea, but I've also passed the probation period at that new job and gotten a raise, so it more or less balances out. (Sorry for mentioning finances here.)

Soon I'll be heading to Victoria for Easter weekend, seeing the Svengali ballet, and making a royalty-themed doll for the next Dollmakers team challenge. Can't wait for those April showers!

Let's Play Plushie Catch-Up

I tweet more frequently than I blog, of course, but I like long photo dumps, too! Both reading and posting them!

So here's the past few weeks made short(er) & sweet for blog readers.

Enjoying my tea & scones

I obviously need a haircut (waist-length hair, even on a sparsely-haired person, gets HEAVY :P) and the dentist says I have 3 pin-sized cavities (not too bad considering how most of my meals are CAKE), but I'm back to my super-healthy self!

Now that the weather's nice and cold, I can start trying new afternoon tea places again and look forward to snowboarding!


This has been a nice, cold Canadian autumn -- my favourite season!
I've been enjoying the many beautiful Vancouver parks with my dear Raccoon... who is not quite as into this kind of weather, haha.


Here he is, holding his belated St. Valentine's gift. It's a giant alligator-crocodile (damned if I can remember the difference), completely designed & hand-stitched by me!

The monkey it's chomping on is not included. ;)


Asides from Crocky, who was VERY time-consuming, I also made a bunch of other plushies!

For example, this very very pink French poodle, who is now available on Etsy:


And this Movember mustached whale, also on Etsy:


And -- this is almost a miracle -- I've FINALLY completed the autumn team-challenge doll:


My miniature Hallowe'en black cat wants you to know that she's thrilled to have found a home!

I made her an even tinier companion/lunch for the journey. She is only 5/8 inch tall, so you can imagine how tiny the mouse is!


Lastly, here's a sneak peek of the teddy bear and felt food I'm working on for the BCGEU craft fair (Nov. 22).
The teddy bear is too "regular-sized" to sell in my Etsy shop, considering how expensive Canadian postage is for anything over 1/2 inch thick, so I really hope someone will take him home from the fair!

Blue bear with his biscuit

Anyway, I've already made a bunch of felt cakes and macarons, and hope to make 10 to 20 more things in this final week.

Wish me luck!

BCGEU Christmas Craft Fair 2011

I figure I should at least post it here because the event has NO online presence at all...

The British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union is holding their annual craft fair on November 22nd, 2011. Yes, it's a Tuesday... My friend who arranged a table for me says it's a pretty small fair -- around 15 to 20 vendors.

It will be at 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby, V5G 3W3.

Anyone who finds this through Etsy or Google is obligated to attend! :P Come support my half-a-booth, crafts in general, and whatever it is BCGEU does!

I'm working on a giant bow headband for it right now:


I'm already nervous!!