Sunday, October 28, 2012

Halloween Baking! Yum!

This morning I woke up to do some baking for my coworkers tomorrow. I realize that Halloween isn't until Wednesday, but I didn't want to stay up late on Tuesday night baking so I thought it would be nice to have some early Halloween goodies on a Monday morning :)

I baked caramel apple cupcakes and chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies. I decided to make two items as I knew that the cupcake recipe did not make a lot of cupcakes....and I have quite a handful of people in the offices to feed!


Yummy, right!?! I boxed up the cookies and put the rest in my bunny bento box while all the cupcakes are in my cupcake carrier.

Until next time ^____^

Fandom Con 2012

Yesterday, my friend Kristina and I drove over to Pensacola to the Univ. of West Florida for their annual Fandom Convention, which is a sci-fi/anime convention.

I've never been to the Univ. of West Florida's campus. I will say it is quite lovely and spacious!

As usual, Kristina and I always have some sort of adventure driving somewhere beyond our own city. It never fails. So we were going along great until we got to the merge on US-90.......it was only suppose to be 2.4 miles down the road we were driving on, but we never saw the sign. Luckily, we stopped at a gas station for directions and she said to take the road behind the gas station (somewhat like a service road) and we would run right into that street!

Thanks goodness for friendly directions! We got where we needed to go and both agreed that a hurricane must have blown away the sign post for US-90!

It took about 40 minutes or so to go through registration. They need to take a cue from Mechacon's registration process, very quick and effective.

We made it just in time to go to one panel that we both wanted to see, the Outer Senshi/Scouts appreciation panel. It was quite fun and a bit weird to be in a uni classroom having a panel on anime-related material!

Here's the picture I took of the panelists including two audience members who were also dressed as SM characters, Sailor Uranus and Tuxedo Mask.


After the panel, Kristina and I wandered the dealers' room and the artists' alley before leaving for some lunch and coming back for a little bit more.


When we came back after lunch I saw this cute couple dressed up as Alice and the Mad Hatter and couldn't resist asking for a picture. I love her super cute White Rabbit doll!!!! It reminds me of a larger one that I saw in a Gothic/Lolita magazine a while ago :)

I wasn't impressed with the artists' alley, I think Mechacon has spoiled me on artists' alley. There weren't a lot of vendors and they were sadly crammed into a tiny room by the dealers' room.

Here's my haul!






From dealers' room:
1) An insanely kawaii neko plushie!
2) Cherry blossom chopsticks and some Japanese candy

From artists' alley:
1) A chocolate pudding flan plushie!
2) A British heart button for my Kindle :)

Overall, we had quite a fun time. Afterwards, we drove back to Spanish Fort to check out the World Market since Kristina had never been there. She bought some nice goodies while I picked up a pair of beginners' chopsticks and a box of mincemeat pies for Christmas.

Then we drove over to Barnes and Noble to check out their selection of craft magazines..........got in an accident with a fellow car. I won't go in depth, but it was their fault not ours as I was opening my car door when they sped into the parking space beside us.

Otherwise, a good day! I think we might have to do this again next year! Hopefully with no accidents and warmer weather!!!

Until next time ^_____^

1st Modes4u Package!

Earlier this month I decided to order some items from Modes4u, a super cute website that sells all sorts of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese merchandise from stationery, fabrics, bento boxes, and DIY clay sets.

You know I was eyeing the DIY clay sets, right? LOL Here is what I ordered from them!


A fuwa fuwa clay set with two molds for cookies, cakes, and ice creams that also includes eye pins, keychains, glue, and four pastel colors of glittery clay. For the clay molds, I also ordered mold oil, charm varnish, white clay whipped cream, and an utilty box to keep my clays from drying out.

If you spent over a certain amount, you get free shipping......so I added something not clay related, a cute Hansel and Gretel keychain for my car keys. My Fruits Basket Kyo one finally fell apart after years of use; LOL it was definitely time for a new one :)

As a freebie, they sent me a roll of deco tape featuring Monokuro Boo, a cute little piggie!

I can't wait to play with these clays! But it might not be until sometime next month as we are in the midst of renovating our house. During the first week of November, I will be helping my mother and aunt paint the living room...........a huge task, but it will be nice to have a painted living room instead of wood paneling from the 70s!

Until next time ^______^

Red hibiscus


The red hibiscus decided to finally bloom! It might be the only bloom on the plant, but it was worth the wait :)

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Horn of Plenty














Design: Horn of Plenty by Sharon Pope, JCS Sept/Oct 2012
Fabric: 28ct doubloon Cashel
Threads: Recommended DMC
Start: 10/2/2012

My aunt wanted me to stitch up this design from one of the JCS magazines that caught her eye in September. It's slow stitching for sure! There are a lot of color changes throughout so I'll be working on this design for a while.

There are so many symbols in the chart that I'm doing something I've never done before, highlighting my chart after I stitch an area. Without that I would be completely lost!

In other news, I've joined Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's It's a Kawaii Winter Wonderland weekly stitching pattern. Until early November, the pattern is only $10 for 25 small designs! You get 5 patterns each week of November to make a cute sampler. Definitely worth the price. I loved the pattern that Carla at CC's Stitching Diary has been working on with monthly kawaii desserts/sweets that I knew I wanted to sign up for FPS' new design series.

Until next time ^____^

Saturday, October 20, 2012

White hibiscus














My mother has planted some hibiscus flowers on the front porch! They are huge when they bloom....about the size of a plate!

Until next time ^____^

Autumn/Halloween display

I finally got around to putting up my autumn display in our living room. It's been a busy past month at work and on the weekends trying to get finished with autumn gifts, etc.

Until next time ^____^

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Halloween kitty


Pattern: Good Luck Neko by Nimoe - made to be a black cat
Hook: size G
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Party Black Sparkle
Notions: 3/8" orange glitter ribbon
Start/Finish: 10/7/2012

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Black Cat Pinkeep





Design: Black Cat Alphabet by JBW Designs, JCS Halloween 2012
Fabric: 28ct Cashel Antique White Zweigart and moon/stars cotton backing fabric
Threads: DMC 310
Notions: 3/4" double frill velvet ribbon and white pearlized pins
Finished as pinkeep: 10/6/2012

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

September Recap

Read:

1. She and Allan by Henry Rider Haggard
2. Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne
3. Magepa the Buck by Henry Rider Haggard
4. The Ancient Allan by Henry Rider Haggard
5. He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
6. Heu-Heu by Henry Rider Haggard
7. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Lizzie Newton graphic novel #1 by Hey-Jin Jeon

Stitched:
1. Black Cat Alphabet by JBW Designs

Crafts:
1. Heart amigurumi
2. Green kitty amigurumi keychain
3. Beary Love amigurumi keychain
4. Pink octopus amigurumi
5. Green octopus amigurumi