to the crochet finish

i must say i am really hooked to crochet. today marked the day i finished my third scarf ... a pink one for me and it is pretty long.

Nigeria

jp came across this blog about nigeria. old memories.

aaron rowe's nigeria

fart, matches and no gps!

it is a dawn of a new era. when our body expells chemical attack and matches can be used on planes and we are still lost (and died stranded) even with all the technologies around us.

a sad world ... i am sad just to type this up. how stupid can you be to light up a match on a plane especially after 9/11? even if you passed a killer gas attack, others around will not die from it other than a little embarrasment from you they will live. and you can still ride the plane instead of being blacklisted from all the airlines.

and also i am sad about the death of cnet senior editor james kim out of all the people who died! ... why him? i guess geeks also runs their course. rest in peace ... my hearts goes out to his wife and kids! thank god they are okay.

foodsuit

do people have too much free time in hand?

well a california woman who filed a lawsuit to sue kraft food for their guacamole dip does ;P
she said the product label was misleading and it wasn't even made out of avocado!
another class action lawsuit ... or foodsuit.

why not make your own guacamole dip? how much is the kraft guacamole dip? the last time i bought a fresh made guacamole dip, it was at whole foods. it was pretty expensive for such a small container, but really tasty and the dip was made out of real avocado.

anyways ... now we should all read food packagings and labels ... so we can sue food companies for false advertisings and get some money to help solve childhood obesity and diabetes.

can we have a ban on food companies for using high fructose corn syrup? eventually hfcs is going to kill us all with heart attacks!

yet another blog

this time is for our trip to strasbourg, france! we are leaving on december 17th!

travel log of chia & lu: chialutravel.blogspot.com

second one done

yes, today marked the day i finished my second crochet scarf for baby. i am working on a third one for me. i hope i will get that done before we head off to france.

a new blog

i started a new blog today called 'a cheese a day' to recollect memories of cheese eating days. it has multiple stories from other people and my stories all rolled into one.

finally done

today marked the day i finished my first crochet scarf.

recipe: mashed potatoes

i usually pick up a huge bag of russet potatoes. i do not know how much i need but it is a good 10 pound bag.
my serving is a potato for two people. if you have 12 people for thanksgiving use 6 potatoes if there are going to be a lot of other dishes to taste. if just turkey and mashed then a potato per person.

simple mashed potatoes

potatoes - pick any kind you want ... i use russet because it is easy to peel and boil
butter - you can add how ever much you want. i used up the whole stick to a whole box
cream cheese - i love to add cream cheese to give it the tang
sour cream - sometimes i add it to soften the mashed up
milk - if it is really too dry or add it when you need to reheat the mashed again
salt - for taste if needed

peeling is a bitch. i do not like peeling potatoes so that is why jp ; ) comes in handy. if you have a significant other who like mashed ask him or her to peel the potatoes.

boil the potatoes in several pots if you have 10 pounds of potatoes. if not one pot is enough. boil on medium stove top fire. it will take around 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours depending on how much you have cooking. test the softness with a fork by poking one of the potatoes. russet potatoes tends to crumble so you don't really need to do the test.

drain potatoes after they are cooked to perfection for mashing.

i use two bowls to do the job of mashing. one small bowl to mash and to mix in butter, cream cheese etc. and the other bigger bowl to store the mashed. it is easier to mash and to mix in a little at a time. your hands will get tired so have additional people to help you mash. once all that is done. it is time to taste. if you need some salt add some, mix and taste.

other ingredients you may want to add ... smoked bacon bits, wasabi, sweet potatoes etc
it is better to keep it simple by only adding one additional ingredient

thankful for food

we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner. it was great to see all the aunties, uncles and cousins. i actually ate alot and for the turkey disliker like me ... the turkey was juicy and tender to perfection and i had two slices. theodore had stuffings and array of desserts from cheese cake from mousse fantasy to pumpkin pie with whipped cream. he preferred sweets more than anything.

this year i mashed potatoes again. it has become my trademark for thanksgiving. i had to think of different kind of stuff i can add to the mash. i put some hickory smoked bacon this time and it tasted smoking. jp and i also did some experimentation with potatoes. we made potato gratin. it needed some tweaking before we can actually present it one day for thanksgiving. so look out for it one thanksgiving!

pardon me

what did the turkey do wrong that it needs a pardon from president bush? turkeys are meant to be eaten as much chickens even thought in my opinion turkey meat isn't that good. i rather have more stuffings. maybe bush should save his pardons on the poor secret service agents who couldn't catch the robbers whom robbed one of his twins' money and cell phone. first of all is guarding the twins really a secret service agents job? who would leave their bags on the floor in a country like argentina and hoping that no one would notice. those robbers are professional robbers in a third world country. those agents are not use to swipers but more hand to hand combats and dodging bullets. maybe the pardoned turkey should take a second job in guarding the twins.

are breasts really that offensive?

according to one flight attendant it was. it wasn't even flashed at her, but the baby. for the purpose of feeding the baby i do not see that as offensive cause i am a nursing mom too. but then the mom should have just cover up or have the husband cover up for her whatever makes it easy instead of getting booted of the plane.

Nursing mom files complaint against airlines
Updated 11/17/2006 8:57 AM ET

By Emily Bazar and Sam Hemingway, USA TODAY

A clash between a nursing mother and a flight attendant has sparked a discrimination complaint, an airline investigation and a grass-roots protest.

Emily Gillette, her husband, Brad; and their then 22-month-old daughter, River, were removed from an Oct. 13 flight from Burlington, Vt., to New York after a flight attendant asked Gillette to cover up while she was breast-feeding the girl.

Freedom Airlines operated the Delta Air Lines flight.

Gillette, 27, filed a complaint against both airlines last week with the Vermont Human Rights Commission alleging that the airlineviolated a state law that allows women to breast-feed "in any place of public accommodation." The airlines have until Nov. 27 to respond, Gillette's attorney, Elizabeth Boepple, says.

In a show of support, about 30 mothers and fathers and dozens of children staged a "nurse-in" protest at Burlington International Airport on Wednesday.

"I've always nursed my children when I'm on a plane," says Carolyn Beer, 34, of Burlington. "Their ears hurt with the altitude change, and it's a strange environment for them. The alternative is to let your kid scream."

The Gillettes, of Espanola, N.M., boarded the flight shortly before 10 p.m.. They had been in Vermont visiting friends and were headed to New York to see other friends and Emily Gillette's sister.

Gillette took the window seat in the second-to-last row, she says, and her husband took the aisle. She began nursing River, using one hand to hold her shirt closed. She says: "I was not exposed."

But the flight attendant approached, tried to hand her a blanket and asked her to cover herself, she recalls. "You're offending me," Gillette quotes the woman as saying.

"I'm not doing anything wrong and I will not cover up," Gillette says she said in response.

Spokesmen for the airlines declined to discuss specifics of the incident.

The flight attendant walked away, Gillette says, and a few minutes later, a ticket agent boarded and said the flight attendant had ordered them removed.

The airline arranged for a hotel for the family for the night and a flight with a different airline the next morning, but Gillette wasn't satisfied.

"No woman should ever be ashamed of breast-feeding," she says. She wants "both airlines to create policies that protect a woman from being harassed for feeding her child on an airplane."

Delta is working with Freedom on an investigation, Delta spokesman Anthony Black says. "Delta supports a mother's right to breast-feed-slash-bottle-feed her babies on our aircraft," he says.

Freedom spokesman Paul Skellon says breast-feeding on a plane is OK if it's done in a "discreet way."

Forty-three states have some form of legislation protecting a woman's right to breast-feed, according to Mary Lofton, spokeswoman for La Leche League International, a group that encourages breast-feeding.

Lofton says the league has had a growing number of contacts from women who say they were harassed for breast-feeding on planes.

Sharon Panitch, 37, a massage therapist who organized the Burlington nurse-in, says people who object are "hypocritical."

"We just want to take care of our children," Panitch says.

Sam Hemingway reports for the Burlington Free Press

strong emotions can cloud basic judgments

maybe mel gibson didn't have if half as bad as michael richards, but then gibson is not jewish. offending the jewish community especially in hollywood is a big no no. which is worst not being jewish and offending jewish people or being a jewish and not black and offending black people and calling them with the n word? in any rate people shouldn't be calling each other names it is just bad karma. say sorry and let's move on. why make it even more outlandish? it is a big deal but what is the bigger deal? bush sending more troops to iraq or name calling. people are dying out there no name calling can fix all it, they are still dead. so just move on and take the apology and suck it up people. you got better stuff going in your life than this stupid thing. not like we haven't heard those before.

instruction: double crochet

i was looking for a better instruction in showing how to make double crochet. i finally found one from the dummies book online. click here for a illustrated instructions. i knew i should have gotten that book instead of the other ones i bought.

an attempt to shoot the sky

jp was out on the balcony for an hour shooting the leonids. here is the result using the canon 20D setting: bulb around 1 minute, f 19, iso 200 and focal 38mm. of course when he checked the photos on the actual lcd screen there were no streaks of light but lotta dots of stars. only this morning when he viewed the photos on the computer screen there were mini streaks. this one is one of the better test photographs of the meteor shower. oh of course if he knew he would have bulb for 20 minutes.

space dog

something new in my little shop =D



this bracelet is made with lampwork beads and glass beads held together by wires.

travel photos from si chuan

my uncle travels alot. i mean lot. he went to si chuan (in chinese 四川) a province in the central-western china. here i share some of his photographs.


Hai Luo Go ice river


spring pool


a morning view


typical housing


local tibetian girl

playstation 3 & jesus doll

playstation 3 is the most wanted game console of the year (out beat tickle me elmo) and jesus doll is rejected even for marine toys for tots. maybe toys for tots should accept the jesus dolls and trade them for playstations and every kids will be happy =) kudos to you if you are one of those people camping out at a best buy, frys or circuit city for a playstation 3 ... i tried to get one at costco.com but no luck because their system kept crashing and i couldn't log in so i gave up. they were gone within an hour.
i would probably settle for a jesus doll even though i am not a religious person, it seemed more peaceful and hopeful for this holiday season. and at least you will not be shot at, beaten to a pulp or robbed at gun point for a jesus doll. happy holiday.

apple pro

the order is on its way! woohoo!

Processor: 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM-2x1GB
Hard Drive: 120GB Serial ATA Drive@5400rpm
Optical Drive: SuperDrive 6X
Display: 15" Glossy

to replace my g4 =D
thanks jp for my early christmas present! XOXO

go emmitt

i voted for him at the end because he has the spirit and i also love cheryl. i am glad the popular vote do come through for emmitt ... with victory V

"It is awesome! It is awesome!" declared Smith, after hugging his professional dance partner Cheryl Burke. "We came a long way, we really have."

they sure did!

a 'kung fu' logo design

this week i was working on a logo
using an existing photograph provided by the client

work in progress

ideas from the client - two different look and feel


they like the first one because the second one seemed too complicated for them in concept
brush stroke and kung fu - both convey inner energy of a person - i guess they do not see that

to make it more pleasing to the eye ... i did some tweaking since the original photo was taken in an angle looking up to the person which creating a slight awkward proportion when it is just a flat graphic

what is in my shop?

mind eyes bracelet


mismatch earrings - $10


hearts


5 of a kind bracelets


duo I earrings - $16


duo II earrings - $16


earth bangles - $50 each


earth bracelets - $13 each


ocean bracelet - $22


maelstrom bangle - $168

my scarves

i am still working on the one for baby which is actually the second attempt at it since i was crocheting the first one in the width direction rather than in the length which came out really awkward. i preferred the length direction it is much more smooth and hangs on the neck nicely. i may desmantle the first one i made up to the end of the yarn. i also started another one for jp using acrylic yarn and it is much thicker than the cotton one.

cheaper yarns

i was looking for some craft stuff at createforless.com and i found their price for sugar n cream yarns are now by far the lowest at $1.39!
they ship for free when you spend $100 or more.

shop is up and down =(

sorry ... my shop is going up and down. i guess it is not as smooth of a transition for the people at etsy.com to launch their version two.

jp said they are very amateur in releasing a new version of their site. yes and taking a lot of risk in doing so. one thing you don't want is your site to be down ... not even for one hour. jp should know after working on huge sites like work.com, business.com, carsdirect.com and ussearch.com.

they may need to rethink about their 10 cents increase for listing ;P

etsy v2

they are still working on it. my shop is still down.

review: beard papa's

yummy ...
i had to try them since they said they have the best cream puffs in the world. it tasted like a vanilla eclair. i bought the regular cream puff and it has real vanilla bean in it. the pastry shell is extremely fluffy. you have to eat it right away once the filling is filled into the pastry puff so the puff itself does not deflated over time. and they fill the pastry when you order it. a dozen of them for $17 dollars. they are worth every penny.
i went to the one in west la on sawtelle.

real time with bill maher

i love this show. it is on hbo with new episodes every friday night 11pm/10c.

this is stolen from the show cause i thought it was a great list of "douchebags" (quoting bill maher)

lobbyist jack abramoff
aka the look of a bad dude and it is no hobby
(his hobby is to lobby but thank god his name is not bobby)
he went to the same high school as me argh!

ex house majority leader delay
hence his name and the #3 powerhouse behind the republican party after dick cheney and cheated by funneling corporate money (this is his actual mugshot taken when he was booked)

ex senator santorum
he is no saint from philly

katherine harris
she is the one who stopped the recount in florida when bush was in the lead in the 2000 election and it all went south from then on
(the poor creature must be in pain)

george allen
lost his football in virgina

mr ex secretary of defense
donald rumsfeld
supported by bush but resigned after election 2006 was over
scapegoat nonetheless

karl rove
thanks to him that bush is president twice in a row
now who is the loser of the bunch

k-fed
i think britney spears finally got her brain
he is only the sperm donor

saddam the insane
before
and
after
farewell to hang

roseola

a case of roseola virus ...

fever up to 103.5
mild diarrhea
puffy eyes
irritable and extremely tired
loss of appetite
rash appears after fever ends
it strikes baby 6 months to kids 3 years of age

treatment of roseola ...

let it run it course
lot of fluid intake
lot of rest
to reduce fever ... infant tylenol or acetaminophen
or a lukewarm sponge bath

who is in the house?

wow ... what a close call. this is going to be interesting 110th congress. go democrats and bush is going down.

vote

i finally get to vote before the booths are closed tonight by 8pm. I was there at 7:30pm and there were a quite a few parents with their babies. each babies got a ty beanie from the lady at the polling area.
mr. governator is way ahead of the game ... this time i did vote for him cause he did an okay job and besides the other guy looks fishy. besides that the interesting thing is who will (the donkey or the elephant) take over the congress? i like to see democrats take over the house.

making ceramic pendant and medallion

my cousin is taking a class and she rolled out some clay for me. i used cookie cutters and rubberstamps to create each pieces. i bought some chinese character rubberstamps and i finally got the chance to use them as a guide for me to carve the pieces. hopefully i will have the time to finish up the pieces before the clay dries up. in the meantime, i just used damp towels to cover the clay and wrapped them in plastic bags.
i made 3 different medallions so far: peace, love, and star characters.

birthday party

we went to a fun 2 year old birthday party. they rented a huge jumper and popcorn cart for the kids. our almost 10 months old had some laughs in the jumper. even the parents join in the fun. it was a huge hit. i also like the idea of the popcorn cart popping fresh pops for the crowd.

review: the backyardigans

when i first watched this show i thought it was boring, but then it did grow on me after watching a few more episodes. my favorite episodes by far is samurai pie. i can never remember all the names of the five characters of the show. the character that stands out the most from the five is pablo. he is the penguin who is always stumbling and very clumsy, yet he never gives up.
in every episodes the five friends embark on a journey in their backyard from their realities to their own fantastic adventures. the 3-d animation is fun to watch especially with songs and dances. the songs and dances are themed and very well put together like a broadway musical production in itself. you can even join in for the fun.
this show doesn't have the interactivity like the other shows on nick jr., but it gives you an idea of what you never want to give up ... imagining the possibilities. imagination doesn't require much.

... do you wanna make pies?

now tomatoes

hmm ... i love spinach and now it is off my grocery list for a while and now tomatoes! i can avoid not eating in a restaurant, but not shop for them as part of my diet that is just going too far. most of the veggies i do clean them and then cook them. i rarely eat raw salad bowl if i do i triple wash them even if they do come in a bag that said prewash ... i don't really trust those packaged veggies. whatever are printed on the packages you still have to clean it ... don't be lazy because food poisoning is no fun.

i had food poisoning a couple of times and it all came from eating meat product i bought from carl's jr. (it was always from the same place. the one located on santa monica blvd before 26th street. the carl's jr i go to often was inside campus of USC and i had no problem there.) it was an immediate reaction after 30 minutes to an hour after i ate ... my stomach cramped up and i was forcing myself to vomit all the bad stuff. after 2 hours of going back and forth to the bathroom vomiting i felt much better. i just drank a bottle of water to stay hydrated and just went to bed without anything else. the whole experience was exhausting. so better be safe than sorry ... laziness just doesn't cut it.

homemade baby food

i started making baby food with fresh chicken soup and sometimes with fresh beef soup. mostly adding potatoes, carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. this time around i am going to add beans and rice with some minced meat. i just blend them all together using my everyday blender.

if you want to start making baby food, i would go with a regular blender rather than getting a smaller one. i made 18 to 20 packages of 2.5 ounces of baby food and it last me a week and a half. i freeze them by reusing the gerber plastic containers. i find those very handy dandy. or you can use ice cube trays.

i also would like to try the food mill so i can add some variety of food my husband and i eat so the baby can try some too.

christmas spirit

i am already in the spirit of christmas ... available at my shop.

christmas minis


let it SNOW

halloween gone bad

happy halloween ... it is suppose to be fun going trick or treating ... but sometimes the older teens just spoiled the fun for the rest of the younger ones. the north of santa monica neighborhood slowly turns into a ghetto during this time once a year and it is turning more ghetto-y each year. tonight the cops (santa monica pd) came by to chase the noisy crowds away. it felt like a scene from the dawn of the dead.
the idea of sharing doesn't get to the kids nowadays. last year my 10 pounds bag of candies last the night from 5-9pm and this time around it seemed like one of the kids got really greedy and took the whole 5-pound bag of candies and left the rest of the other trick or treaters astray.
and what about treating people's property with respect. my candy stand got knocked over just because i have no more candies. do people even think about ringing the door bell if the candies are out ... but no ... let's just destroy ... destroy ... destroy. i feel like i have to put up some fences and have a sign that says "keep out or i will shoot."

my last pif on etsy

i gave away my last pif (pay it forward) today. the uno recycled wood bead pendant will be going to a good home =D

sugar & cream yarns

yeah ... i got some more sugar & cream yarns today ... the cheapest i can find is at dick blick for $1.29 even with shipping it is still cheaper than joann for $1.99 with free shipping!

recycled candies

how much candies can a person eat in a day? i went out and bought more candies 10 pounds worth of sugar in multi colors. i still have a bag left from last year's halloween. if i ran out i will probably use those. if some one really ate a one-year-old candy and got sick from it may as well blame it on sugar not because it is a year old. to quote my old man here "expiration date is only a recommendation."

review: go diego go

this cartoon is on nick jr as far as i know every weekday around noonish when i am feeding baby his lunch.

it is a fun show about a young boy named diego saving different animals in trouble in each episodes. you discover and learn about the animals and their habitats with fun facts awhile keeping you engage by asking you questions or do certain actions to help diego with pseudo interactive sessions as a part of the animal rescuing. inbetween are songs and dance. i really like the catchy tune of 'rescue pack' when diego needs a tool to help him solve a problem. the rescue pack will ask you if a tool will help diego solve his problem when it changes itself to a tool for example a bicycle, hot air balloon, or kayak. you can also learn some spanish along the way.
towards the end of the show, i like how diego would review what you had learn from the adventure by playing a memory game. at the end of the game a real photograph of the animal is revealed.
it is overall very rewarding and teaches you about helping others and solving problems.

théodore now 9 months reacts to the show and expression of diego ... he will laugh when diego speaks to him.

now i have that tune in my head.

another long saturday

today is just one of those days were things are not done and it is extremely long even with a stroll close to the santa monica pier. we also walked along third street promenade and visited gap kids. i really like their pajamas for toddlers even the lady working there wants one her size. i bought three long pj for baby size 3 just big enough for him for the trip to france. we wanted to get a costume for halloween, but baby was sleepy and we went straight home after one hour not counting the time to park the car and get out of the parking structure.

eight & cartoons

i worked on my crocheting today ... and i only gained three inches from my last attempt. hopefully with daylight saving coming up i can have one hour of free time to get the crocheting going at full speed. i am still aiming to finish this scarf by mid-december ... it is still do able at this point in time.

i have been watching a lot of cartoons on nick and noggin. dora, diego, wonder pets, blue clues, spongebob ... i will probably provide some of my views on each of those children shows. nine months old théodore seemed to enjoy watching dora and diego. how much tv can a child watch? those shows runs 24/7 back to back ... i started watching by noon time and two hours into it i am already bored.

www.petitespoon.com

yeah i finally got www.petitespoon.com and i am using bluehost.com to host my website. at the moment if you go to the website it will link back to this blogger. hopefully i will get something up and running soon.

shop update

i finally added the christmas card and the rose garden bracelet ... check it out by clicking on the link petite spOOn etsy on the side bar.

i am still at it with the crocheting ... the scarf is now 3 times longer than yesterday which is about 5 inches. it took me a long time to get to the 5 inches long mark. i am using the left over yarn from my baby shower. cream & sugar or sugar & cream yarn.

recipe: fresh chicken soup

this is a real kitchen. i have been experimenting with making fresh chicken soup ... as in from scratch. my mom always says never use frozen chicken so she went to the market ... a chinese market to get the chicken. you can pick out the one you want and they will do the rest.

simple chicken soup

1 fresh chicken
2 pieces of lean pork meat 6 ounces each
1 ginger
3 bunch of spring onions
3 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine
1 pinch of salt

the lady in the market doesn't really help you get rid of the chicken fat so you have to do it yourself when you get home. cut away all the chicken skin and excess fat as much as possible. use a very sharp knife.

place the chicken and lean meat pieces (those meat help give the soup its complement flavors) in a pot and fill it up with water to cover partially to the tip of the chicken. place pot on the stove. turn on the fire to HI.

peel ginger, slice it into several pieces and use the flat part of knife and bang the slices till a bit of juice comes out. place the ginger slices in the pot. clean and cut the spring onions and add them to the brew as well as the rest of the ingredients.

when the water reached to a boil lower the fire till the water only bubble up onces or twice and cover.

slow boiling for 3 hours ... keep checking your soup 1 hour at a time.

after 3 hours let the soup cool and get rid of the excess oil floating on the top layer. best is to place the pot of soup in the refigerator after the pot is cooled. it is much easier that way to scoop the excess oil out.

when you want to enjoy a bowl of soup reheat and savor the flavor!

any question?

celebs & adoption

okay seriously what is up with the trends of celebs adopting kids from africa? this is a life we are taking about not some fashion trends to wear a kid from another country. if madonna has so much money to give away why not go all out and adopt the village. why single out all the other children to just one 'david'? there are alot of children out there without parents.

(i just hope david will turn out okay and not turned into one of those celeb brats like paris hilton or nicole richie who are disconnected from the whole wide world which is just sad. who cares if you have money ... you just turned into garbage news ending up on entertainment tonight and paparazzi chases.)

the most important thing is to educate not only the children but the whole village including the adults about HIV and how to prevent getting this damn disease. so adopting one kid is not going to solve the problem ... that is where the criticism comes in. either go all out or not even do it at all. it isn't a novelty.

crocheting & zen

i never thought i will give crocheting a try ... better than never. i should have crochet sooner to be in the state of zen. it is a peaceful action after getting pass the basic of slip knots, chain stitch, turning chain and now to the single crochet.

hopefully i will be finishing up a single crochet scarf by the mid of december so baby can wear it in france ... bbrrr.

dancing with the stars and target

okay just want to post since i did watched the whole show. mario must win and jerry must go. why are people making him suffer? he cannot compete with the others even if he was entertaining and funny.

i went to target today. i really like the 1 dollar section. i got some fun blank greeting cards for all occassional usage.

target is one of the grand example of a brand makeover. for example you will never see me in a wal-mart ever again ... what a mess and the lighting in one of those stores are terrible. target on the other hand is a great shopping experience. all the departments are labeled with huge signs. you will never get lost. i wished target would incorporate more space in the clothing sections because it can be crowded with the big red shopping cart. especially when you have children cause you have to constantly watch them. i had to push the cart into the narrow section of infant clothing because of the baby, if it were just me i could have left the cart out. and besides that i don't think it was wheelchair friendly either. target is truly about having great fun design for the masses for great prices.

nice email

someone wrote me a very nice email in regarding my blues glass beads bracelet. that just made my day.

"Sorry to take soooo long to get in touch, I did leave feedback for you but I wanted to let you know how really beautiful I think the braclet is. As you know it is a present for my mum and I know just how much she will love it. You have a great talent for choosing the most beautiful arrangement of beads, it is a lovely piece of work!"

couple more vintage buttons

okay this week i still can't get enough of vintage buttons. i have been staring at them all weekend and i am still working on more thumb tacks and bracelets. i have complete two more velcro bracelets and more thumb tacks. i decided to make some collages of rings. i will get some ring bases later in the week.

paris syndrome?

i find this news disturbing, but also funny at the same time. especially when i have been to paris 3 times. i do not know who put the stamp on paris to be a romantic city? the last time i was there it was rainy and gloomy. romantic maybe at night when everything are closed and quiet.

french waiters in most cases are very rude because they do not earn tips from you. the tips are included in the price of the food since it is so so so expensive in euro. the only waiter we met one evening who was funny and nice ... he was from romania.

i think those japanese tourists should just get a grip of reality. i would just visit all the museums ... definitely worth my time. or do like all female asians ... go shop at louis vuitton and get the most expensive handbag (which is still cheaper than buying it in asia plus you get your tax back) and be happy.


this news was taken from yahoo news:

"Paris Syndrome" leaves tourists in shock

Mon Oct 23, 12:53 AM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - Around a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

"A third of patients get better immediately, a third suffer relapses and the rest have psychoses," Yousef Mahmoudia, a psychologist at the Hotel-Dieu hospital, next to Notre Dame cathedral, told the newspaper Journal du Dimanche.

Already this year, Japan's embassy in Paris has had to repatriate at least four visitors -- including two women who believed their hotel room was being bugged and there was a plot against them.

Previous cases include a man convinced he was the French "Sun King", Louis XIV, and a woman who believed she was being attacked with microwaves, the paper cited Japanese embassy official Yoshikatsu Aoyagi as saying.

"Fragile travellers can lose their bearings. When the idea they have of the country meets the reality of what they discover it can provoke a crisis," psychologist Herve Benhamou told the paper.

The phenomenon, which the newspaper dubbed "Paris Syndrome", was first detailed in the psychiatric journal Nervure in 2004.

Bernard Delage of Jeunes Japon, an association that helps Japanese families settle in France, said:

"In Japanese shops, the customer is king, whereas here assistants hardly look at them ... People using public transport all look stern, and handbag snatchers increase the ill feeling."

A Japanese woman, Aimi, told the paper:

"For us, Paris is a dream city. All the French are beautiful and elegant ... And then, when they arrive, the Japanese find the French character is the complete opposite of their own."

velcro bracelets + others

i finished the 3 velcro bracelets. jp photographed them plus the others.

i also finally finished the christmas dangles earrings "christmas minis" and one odd beads necklace.
i only made 3 'let it snow' cards.

hope to put them up this week =D

korean bbq grill

our friends took us to a korean bbq in torrance. it is a great place. not a really big restuarant. since we are all meat eaters we had several platters of beef. what i find interesting is the grill. it is a round one inset in the middle of the table and i like the design of the grill because it doesn't splatter oil as much as the conventional rectangular shaped one that i often see in korean bbq places.

vintage buttons dive

i had just some free time today to dive into my 8 pounds of vintage buttons. i was experimenting with different types of glue and i found that hot glue gun seemed to do the job well.

i bought some velcro straps used for tying up cables and electrical cords. they come in multi color packs at staples and i used them as bracelets by hot glued an array of vintage buttons on to one side. i made one complete bracelet with white buttons on yellow velcro. it looks pretty interesting. i also made some vintage buttons tacks by gluing thumb tacks on to the back of the buttons. i really love how those turned out. i was also playing around with velcro dots on buttons. i could probably make them into a design your own bracelet with different arrangement of buttons. maybe a kit with two different color velcros and 12 different vintage buttons as a set. and i can also sell buttons with velcro backing as sets too.

cool sites to check out

very cool sites indeed ...

craftzine.com
the modern day craft revolution magazine just recently premiere on october 17th. from the maker of makezine.com

i just got my subscription so i am just waiting for it to come in the mail =D

elsewares.com
stuff designed by indie designers - you can buy some really hip design items

darwin-online.org.uk
the complete work of charles darwin available to the public online ... ain't technology cool
so far this project started by University of Cambridge and others will complete in 2009

long day

one of those days ... super long, draggin day

some people commented on my guide on work.com
scroll down to yesterday's entry for the link to my guide ; )

as of today Etsy Angels raised close to $90!

i did not do much today. took us 2 hours to go to LAX and back home and we left around 330pm ... the traffic was bad yet the airport was close to empty.

guide

okay i finally wrote a guide on work.com!

guide to sell your handmade goodies to the world
it is currently rate 7 out of 10.

let me know what i can add to improve on it.

300 + LOST

it has been almost a month since my little shop opened ... i have 300 unique user hits on my shop. thanks for looking =D

okay who is not a big fan of LOST? every wednesday is LOST day and dancing with the stars ... why are people still voting for jerry?

i didn't do much today on the crafty side. on a good note, i finally found my cellphone after a week. it was lost in my car. i hate it when i can't remember even if i tried to retrace my steps. so sorry if you tried calling me and left me messages. i am not trying to be anti social, but just prone to forget and misplace stuff like cellphone, wallet, car keys etc.

web hosting? help ... HELP

okay i was thinking of having another website to host my crafty stuff instead of using spoonful design or etsy or flickr. so i am looking for a better web hosting than my current provider. maybe even provide a shopping cart of some sort that is easy for no-brainer me to use (so i don't have to bug JP all the time to help me haa haa cause he was annoyed that i didn't know how to place the google ads block on the blogger since i am html deficient).

enough said ... any suggestion of web hosting service that is not too expensive but have a easy shopping cart system? right now i am paying for an annual fee of $60 but of course their shopping cart thingie is messy.

posted

okay the hearts earrings are posted in the shop.

i did not do much today. i went to Ritz for lunch and i had chicken wrap bento box (the box came with everything: soup, salad, fries and even dessert ... just typing this makes my mouth waters). Théodore enjoyed a green apple with his one tooth =D
(a photo will be posted on his blogger when JP gets to it).

i started a bangle "watermelon" i will call it. i will finish up the clasp tommorrow cause i am still thinking about it. i also made a pair of lantern "ruby" earrings from some leftover beads that i had tucked away somewhere. i started on another bracelet following my red and black theme of the day.

the glitters dried nicely on the christmas cards i was working on last night. i have 3 made. i think i am going to make 2 more and sell it as a set.

i still have a bunch of foam pieces left that i can make into christmas cards. i am going to be tackling those next.

hopefully JP can help me shoot them by the weekend ;P so i can put some of those photos up on the blogger.

5 pairs of cute hearts earrings!

i just made 5 pairs of mismatch earrings.

those are for charity ... i donate 100% of those earrings to toys for tots ... buy them it is for a good cause ... more toys for the children during christmas =D

price is $12.00 for a pair

let me know before i post them up on etsy!

okay time to sleep Zzz

yeah i got those hearts

okay i got them in the mail today =D

i worked on one christmas greeting card today ... it turned out pretty okay. i used felt and alot of white vintage buttons. i got 8 pounds or more worth of vintage buttons. and i need to sort them out. yes, i got it from ebay ;)

i have one PIF left. so if you like the recycled wood bead pendant this is UNO.

the 8mm coral beads earrings are going to a good home

lampwork beads - mismatch hearts

many people seemed to like the cute mismatch hearts earrings that i gave away as a PIF - pay it foward* item on etsy.
i emailed a really nice lady named Jena. i bought a set of the lampwork heart beads and hopefully i will get them this coming week so i can make some cute earrings for the charity.

the lovely mismatch hearts earrings

* if you select to buy the PIF item you either have to list something in your etsy.com shop for someone to get your PIF item or just do something nice to someone

money raised as of today

Etsy Angels raised close to $70.

i sold one item thanks to my cousin Viv who bought it.
thanks so much ... that is 3.75 + 3 dollars shipping to my charity pot =D
i am also donating 3 dollars from my first item sold
total to date for me is 9.75 dollars

i have updated more items just for the charity this week
please check them out and thank you for your support
petitespoon.etsy.com

first item sold on etsy - Blues

second item sold on etsy {thanks Viv ;)} - Trio I

my first post

i am starting this blog as a way to keep record of my handmade goodies. i recently just started a shop at etsy.com under the name petitespoon. i have also joined a group called Etsy Angels. we are a group of people who loves to make things by hand and sell them, but at the end it is all about charity ... we donate a percentage of our sales to different non-profit organizations. this month we are donating our proceeds to marine toys for tots foundation (we are extending it to november). you can read about Etsy Angels at etsyangels.blogspot.com