August Sunflower Munchkins Update

Hello hello!

Here's an August update (finally..) of the sunflower munchkins that I have been growing this whole summer. The flowers finally bloomed and they are so pretty! I wish I took more pictures but it has been a busy month! I'd like to thank my family for watering them when I forgot to :P Enjoy!

Almost there...

You're finally here!

The middle one doesn't look too happy...

So pretty!

Enjoy the last weekend of August! :)

July Sunflower Munchkins Update

Here's another post to bring you up to date on the sunflower munchkins that I've been growing. They are looking good so far since the June update. The smaller ones on the left seems to be drying up but I've been watering them often. I may have I planted too many seeds in the pot.

Looks like something is growing in the middle!

Come back soon for the August update :)

June Sunflower Munchkins Update

Have you been curious about the Little Sunflower Munchkins since the last update? I lost count of the days and they are growing fast!

Leaves are growing bigger

Now that they're getting bigger, they aren't as cute anymore. They are growing so fast :*) I'm starting to wonder if I should have planted less seeds because I'm worried if they have enough room to grow. Anyway, they are looking quite dashing so far!

My hairy sunflower munchkins

Have a great weekend. Lets hope for more sunshine in Vancouver!

Day 9 to 12: Watch Me Grow!

Hello hello! My sunflower munchkins have been growing quite fast during the weekend. It's something I look forward to see every morning :)

I planted five seeds in total and the third one popped out on Day 9.

Day 9: So cute!

And on Day 10, the fifth seed came out. A little late, but that's okay :)

Day 10: All 5 together

I forgot to take a picture on Day 11, but the bottom photo is the most recent one.

Day 12: So pretty :*)

Isn't it excited?! ...or is it just me? :) Have a wonderful week!

Day 8: My Little Sunflower Munchkins are Growing!

Today is day 8 of growing my sunflower munchkins. So far so good because you can see some greens popping out of the soil. I watered the pot yesterday and there was nothing until this morning! It's so exciting to watch!

Just watered the pot. They're growing!

I'll keep you guys updated! :)

Day 1: Growing My Little Sunflower Munchkins

Another sunny Friday afternoon in Vancouver! I'm definitely enjoying this.

To take advantage of my day off, I decided to grow some sunflower munchkins. Despite my allergic reaction to pollen, I am determining to spend more time outside and grow something this year. I hope this will turn out okay.

Day 1: Planting

Did you know...

Sunflower seedlings need daily watering once they are in the ground. If the seedlings get dried out, they will wither (Source: Barb Hacker). I'm assuming in pots too?

Please leave a comment if you have any tips for beginners like me. Even words of encouragement will make me happy :)

Have a wonderful weekend!    

Making My Halloween Costume: Russell the Wilderness Explorer

Hi everyone! And Happy November :)

I want to show you guys my Halloween costume that I made this year! I was itching to craft and sew so I thought that dressing up as Russell from the movie UP is a fun idea.

Keep reading to see how I made my costume. Enjoy!

Handmade costume as Russell

"The wilderness must be explored! CA-CA!"
Russell the Wilderness Explorer

Sunny Floral Greeting

Here's another going away card that I made for my friend, MC, who just left Vancouver to start his new career in San Francisco (congratulations!). I met MC at the SFU Origami Club so I thought it would be nice to make him an origami-themed card.

For this card, I folded five 2 inches squares to form the flower and the corners. This technique is known as Tea Bag Folding.Unlike the traditional origami, tea bag folding uses several small square pieces of printed paper that are folded exactly the same way. Then, the pieces are used to link together to form beautiful 3D designs. It’s great for decorating your cards and making unique ornaments.

Flower fold card

Fun Fact: Why is it called “Tea Bag Folding”?

Tea bag folding was originated in Holland. Tiny van der Plaas was worried about giving a birthday card for her sister, so she began folding envelopes that enclosed her tea bag. In Holland, tea bag envelopes are colourful and decorated with designs. In the end, she created a unique and decorative card; as a result, it was the beginning of tea bag folding! (Source: Craft Site Directory)

Tea Bag Folding
Photo taken from Jill Britton

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Have a great week, everyone!

Birthday Dress and Shoes

Hi everyone!

Today is my birthday! Yay :) I want to show you guys my birthday dress and shoes that I will be wearing tonight...

Blue dress

Pink pumps

Just kidding :) I'll be wearing something else. The diagrams are from Fashion Origami by Mark Bolitho. The heels were hard to make...I had to make up my own folds because I didn't understand the diagram. The blue dress was fun to fold though.

What do you guys think? I am I fashion designer now? lol

Anyway, please look forward to my next post on my birthday par-tay :)

I'll Fold You Something Pretty

Hello! I hope everyone had an awesome summer! I have to apologize for not updating my blog :( This special post will show focus on my other hobby which is...drum roll, please...origami! haha I'm sure some of you already knew that :P

Some of the executives from the SFU Origami Club and I volunteered to teach origami. The first event was located at the Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre. Last month, the centre hosted a Japanese culture event for a day camp. There were fun activities for the kids to do and to teach them some Japanese culture and heritage.

Nikkei Centre supports Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.
Click here to read more.

The second event was at the Mackin House Museum. Today, they were celebrating Mackin House’s 102nd Birthday (Wow!) We got a brief history of the house and it was quite interesting. Click here if you want to read about it. There were many multicultural activities going on today such as henna tattooing, music and dance performances, and of course, origami folding.

Flowers!

Joseph Wu, an origami expert, was there too! It was my first time meeting him, so that was exciting :) His creations are amazing, so check out his gallery by clicking here.

Our table was located in the master bedroom of
Henry James Mackin's and his wife's! :O

I always have fun volunteering in these kinds of events. It's so rewarding when I get to share my hobby to the public. Also, I get to meet new people and learn new things! :) Anyways, I'm ending this blog post with this heart cube that I folded last month. Enjoy!

Heart Cube

Dessert Doctrine: SFU Origami Club & YVC

I mentioned the executives from the SFU Origami Club and I volunteered at the Burnaby Hospital last Friday. The event was called Dessert Doctrine I: Origami & Card Tricks. We were there to teach the volunteers from the Youth Volunteer Council some simple origami so they can make it with their patients. There were also interactive games, card tricks, and ice cream cake! Yum! I had a great time, so enjoy the pictures!

Origami! :)

Practical and Decorative Origami

Last Friday, SFU Origami Club organized a practical themed event. Instead of folding for fun, we thought it would be something new and different to teach members to fold practical things with just origami paper. There were decorations, bookmarks, boxes, envelopes, chopstick stands, and the list goes on!

I had so much fun that I actually folded some stuff to decorate my room. I folded this really cute sunflower photo stand.

I love sunflowers :)

A for Apple, Tea for Treats

Some girlfriends and I were invited to a tea party hosted by AS. We were in a tent (it was very sunny today!) drinking tea and eating sweets at her fiancé’s backyard. It was my first tea party and it was exactly how I have imagined when I was younger: pretty dresses, sweet treats, yummy snacks, and good friends. Since it was my first tea party, I baked a lemon cake with creamy lemon filling! It was a good time to take out my cake decorating kit that was left aside for some time :P

The night before the tea party:

I need a bigger kitchen

Pictures from Powell Street Festival

This year was SFU Origami Club's first time participating in the Powell Street Festival. Some of the executives from the club and I taught origami in the Children's Tent and we had a great time! I was surprised by how busy it was because the weather was a bit cloudy in the morning. By the end of the day, I was quite exhausted from standing and teaching all day...a lot of the little kids asked me to teach them how to make a dinosaur, which was the hardest one to make. I couldn't say no to them because they were so cute! :)

Saturday, July 31st - Friends and I went to visit the festival. The first thing I saw were the cranes hanging from the trees! They looked really pretty and I was happy that people were taking so pictures of them! I wanted to walk up to people and tell them we folded all those cranes! ...but that would be creepy :P Too bad it rained because it looked floppy the next day.

We folded and KY strung all the cranes!

Sunday, August 1st- SFU Origami Club in action :)

1) The Children's Tent before the kids came in.
2) The lovely executives.
3) Someone (we called him the master) folded the goblins.
4) Standing in front of a sign. (My mom took that picture! I taught her well :))

Our future origami club executives? lol

We got vouchers, so we lined up for takoyaki!
I burnt my tongue that day..it was too delicious!

:)

Thank you to Powell Street Festival for including the SFU Origami Club. Thanks to friends that came to the festival with me and friends that visited me. And big thanks to the executives, KY, AC, and KWC, who helped and prepared for this festival. ♥

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Edit:
The Opus mentioned SFU Origami Club in their newsletter. Click here to read!

Powell Street Festival- July 31 & August 1, 2010

Mark your calendars for the 34th Annual Powell Street Festival on July 31 and August 1, 2010!

Dates: July 31 & August 1, 2010
Location: Oppenheimer Park (400 block of Powell Street), Vancouver, BC
Map: Click here
Time: 11:30am - 7:00pm
Fun: Crafts, food, dance, games, martial arts, etc.
Schedule/Programme: Click here
Website: www.powellstreetfestival.com
Facebook: The 34th Annual Powell Street Festival
Twitter: Powell St. Festival

The SFU Origami Club will be taking part of this annual celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, culture, and heritage. We'll be in the Children's Tent on Aug 1st from 12pm-3pm (or longer), so be sure to visit us! This will be our first time participating in this festival, so we're very excited!

Some of the executives from the Origami Club helped prepare for this festival by teaching the crane to the staffs. Actually, giant cranes! We're going to use them as decoration, most likely going to hang them on branches. The decorations are going to look so pretty!


Giant cranes!!! We're going to paint and hang them with colourful ribbons


We used patterned papers for these cranes. So pretty!

We made more than just cranes. KY made a gaint rose with a stem! It took him a long time, but he did it! The rose look great! I took a closer picture of it and KWC put his hand on top to show how big the rose is...it's big!


Having some fun :)

Come visit us and have some fun! :)

Sunday afternoon with girlfriends

I had a wonderful Sunday! Instead of my Sunday routine of chores and homework, I decided ditched them to go vintage shopping with some of my girlfriends. We walk along Main Street and yes, we went to I Found Gallery! The girlfriends wanted to go there ever since A and I started making jewellery and I'm happy that we can all share this interest together!

I was impressed by how fast the girlfriends found their charms, chains, and such. It didn't seem like they were overwhelmed like how I felt when A and I went for the first time. It was interesting to see and to learn what they like and what they want (I like to observe things...not in a creepy way!). I had fun helping and offering opinions...I felt helpful :)


Our goods :)

I have already planned out what I wanted to make. My inspiration was a pair of Hello Kitty earrings that was given to me for my birthday. I don't wear dangly earrings that often, so I thought I could turn one earring into a necklace since I wear necklaces more.


Mine. A pair of Hello Kitty earrings, two bows, and two different chains


Left to right: CS, TK, me.
I'm helping TK with her first handmade necklace :)


A and CS are working hard on their necklace.


Mine. A suggested to put one bow higher than the other one...which made my necklace even cuter! Thanks, babe.


CS' necklace. I love the colour combination!


A's. Her nautical-themed pendants will match her cute stripe tops!


TK's. This necklace really suits her: long chain, large feather, and beautiful gems.


A group picture with our new handmade necklaces.

I didn't like the the length of my necklace because the chain was too long. As you you can see from the picture above, the Hello Kitty pendant was tucked under my top. So after some adjustments...


Ta da! ...i love Hello Kitty!!!

Two girlfriends didn't make their necklaces with us, so I'll be waiting for them to send me pictures. I'm excited to see how they will turn out!

♥ Be sure to check out A's fashion blog. She posted more pictures of her nautical-themed necklace!

♥ Take a look at my other necklaces: I love handmade necklaces and First handmade necklaces.

PS: I miss making cards. I will start creating some this week! :)

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UPDATE:
thekitchenslave sent a picture of her necklace, which I 'stole' from A ;)


This necklace really matches her!

Noodle Kaboodle sent me a picture of her necklace. Check it out:


Nice and simple. I like it!