New Goodies in Shop

Good afternoon!

I have a lot of new merchandise in my shop so please head over there and check it out. For all the Kpop fans in my audience, I've got some lovely new charm bracelets that I've made in my shop. If you'd like a custom bracelet made for your favorite band, please let me know via messaging in my shop.

Thanks for your support!

Once Upon a Time sampler progress

Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you are having a lovely weekend :)

I finished stitching up April's block on the OUAT sampler. My favorite motifs on this month's block were the three bears. I absolutely adore their little bows >___<

I am currently stitching on another design. I got the pattern in the mail on Friday and started it yesterday afternoon after buying some linen fabric and the recommended threads. But after stitching quite a few of the letters, I really didn't like the variegated thread that I was using. The lines of color are too long in the thread to make the 'variegated' aspect noticeable.

I was going to buy some more fabric and start over today, but then I realized that everything would be closed because of the holiday. Silly me! So on to plan B, I am going to go through my thread stash and pick a solid color and 'pull' out all the lettering and stitch them over. Luckily, the darkness of the variegated lettering (staining on fabric if any) won't show once I stitch over them!

Until next time ^____^

Skoshbox April 2014

I recently saw a video on youtube by SharlainJapan. She did a review of something called a skoshbox. After watching it, I knew I had to subscribe to this subscription box company. Each month you get a box full of a variety of Japanese snacks/sweets.

I brought it with me to work for my coworkers and I to try. My coworker, Jeff, used to live in Japan as a child so I knew I had an ally in my love of trying Japanese snacks/sweets.

My first reaction? I love the packaging of the Skoshbox. Everything is neatly arranged in tissue paper with a notecard detailing the package's contents.

Favorites: (in order)

1. Obachan's Pota Pota Yaki (sweet shoyu baked senbei): a rice cracker that is faintly sweet! Perfect when you are craving a little sweetness.

2. Harvest Baked Biscuit: this package came with one of two flavors, burnt caramel or chocolate. We received the burnt caramel, which was quite yummy. Yet again, just a slight sweetness flavor. Not overpowering at all.

3. Strawberry Pocky: just plain old strawberry pocky! Always a favorite.

4. Aero green tea and strawberry mini bars: I had Aero bars when I was in England for grad school. At that time, they didn't sell them in the US and the only flavors were chocolate related. It was a treat to try these two new flavors of Aero.

5. Elise Wafer Stick: A strawberry white choco filled wafer stick. Light and sweet.

6. Milk Country Candy: creamy milk hard candy. I've had these before as our local Asian markets carry them in abundance!


The Questionable: (in order)

1. Mentaiko Umaibo Stick (puffed corn cod roe flavor): Now I know that sounds quite strange and a little alarming, but actually it wasn't bad at all. For some weird reason, this snack tasted to me and my coworkers like a large Andy's hot fry. Do you guys know about those chip snacks? Well, this mentaiko stick tasted like that. Makes me wonder what ingredients are in Andy's hot fries!??!?

2. Cheese Okaki Crackers (senbei with cheese topping): not my favorite. The cracker reminded me of the crackers you get in Asian party mixes, but topped with processed cheese. I've never ever liked Asian party mixes, I don't like the texture of the crackers/snacks so this okaki cracker wasn't my cup of tea.


Dislikes:

1. Matcha Kitkat: this surprised me because I've started to like green tea flavored snacks as evident by the fact that I inhaled the green tea Pocky that Amanda sent me for the Chinese New Year. Despite that, I didn't like these kitkats. I think it was because the kitkat had small granules of green tea in the candy. It made for an odd texture that I didn't care for.

Thoughts: All in all, I'm glad I subscribed to Skoshbox. It definitely satisfies my love of Japanese snacks/sweets as my local Asian markets only have the standards such as Pocky, biscuits, or jellies.

Until next time ^____^

Asian Food Adventure: Pearl (Boba) in Syrup

This was another part of my Chinese New Year package from Amanda. I brought it with me to work yesterday so my coworkers and I could try it during one of our breaks.

Verdict: it's good, but not my cup of tea. Which is quite funny because it is basically tapioca balls in very watered down syrup. Trying to be boba tea, but not quite succeeding.

The sad part is that I really wanted a cup of boba tea after trying this pearl syrup!

LOL I think I trip to CA in the future is in order! I'll be able to get my fill of boba tea for sure!

Until next time ^____^

Asian Food Adventure: Strawberry Jelly

This was part of my Chinese New Year package from Amanda. These were a nice treat, not too sweet, just right! My coworkers loved them. I think the next time I visit CA, I'll have to grab some to bring back with me.

If you see these anywhere near you just remember to pop the whole thing in your mouth when you unwrap it. Don't try to pick off the 'wrapper', it is rice paper which is edible.

Until next time ^____^

Asian Food Adventure: Shredded Squid

I saw this at the my local Asian market recently and thought it would be something different to try with my coworkers.

So after eating it, my reaction was mixed. It was extremely fishy tasting and according to my friend Amanda it shouldn't taste like that and perhaps I needed a different brand.

Currently, the rest of the bag is still sitting in our break area........I think it might stay there for a while unless one of my coworkers breaks down and eats the rest of it.......>0<

Until next time ^____^

March Recap

Recap:

Read:

1. Mayhawk Rising by N.K. Schaudecker
2. The Doctor and the Rough Rider by Mike Resnick
3. The Doctor and the Dinosaurs by Mike Resnick
4. Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
5. Towering by Alex Flinn
6. William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
7. Dictorial Grimoire Cinderella by Ayumi Kanou
8. Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale
9. Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
10. Ever After High: The Unfairest of Them All by Shannon Hale

Crafts:
1. Monster amigurumi
2. Two Pop-tart (need to be 'finished')
3. Dirigible amigurumi
4. Cardcaptor Sakura amigurumi (hair)
5. Kiki's Delivery Service amigurumi (hair)
6. Loki and Thor resin coasters
7. Cherry blossom resin keychains