Time flies...

After a long break from blogging, I'm back! I can't believe it's already September and getting chillier every morning!

So what have I been up to since my last post in May? Amigurumi-wise, I've added to my mario collection: Starman, Flower, Bullet Bill, Luma, King Boo...

I also made a Dunny and Deku Link as custom orders plus a pair of boxing gloves for Dave's birthday:

Aside from crocheting, I also managed to squeeze time for another upcoming hobby: making bentos!

This was my first attempt and hopefully there'll be many more to come! Bentos are a joy to make and to eat. I can't wait to go to Japan to buy more cookie cutters and other bento supplies!

Speaking of Japan, I'll be going there next Friday! I absolutely cannot wait! This time around I'll be visiting Tokyo (obviously), Yokohama, Shirakawa-go, Kyoto (because we didn't spend enough time there last year), Okayama, Himeji, Takamatsu, Kobe and Nara. I'll try to blog about the trip while I'm there!

But before next week rolls around, I have to prepare for my first ever craft fair! I'll be selling at the Nibbles & Bites Craft Fair at Thompson Community Center in Richmond, BC on Sat Sep 6, 11am-8pm & Sun Sep 7, 11am-7pm. Drop by to visit if you can! Aside from the craft fair, there will also be restaurants with samples of their featured food items. There's also going to be a volleyball tournament, live band entertainment, a kids' carnival and a car show.

Well that's all for now! I believe that was a long enough post after my long absence from this blog. :)

Table Tennis Paddle

Table Tennis Paddle
Originally uploaded by t0fugurl

My dad is crazy about table tennis so I decided to make him this little paddle that he can hang from his paddle bag. Yes he even has a paddle bag to protect his precious paddle haha. I guess he can strap this onto the zipper. I hope he likes it! :)

I've never really tried making something so 2D before. I tried to give it some plushiness by stuffing the handle and blocking the polyfill from going to the paddle part so the paddle still stays flat. The hardest was making the ball. Since the paddle is small already - 3.5 inches - I had to make the ball super tiny to make things proportional.

All my yarn are the same weight and thickness so it was difficult to deviate from making a "standard" size ball. So I took apart a piece of white yarn and only crocheted using 1 of the 4 strands that made up the yarn. I used a 1.65mm hook and the ball turned out exactly the size I wanted!

This was the first time I crocheted with anything less than a 2.75mm hook, not to mention the thin strand of yarn kept fraying! I didn't want to use string as that would be TOO thin and hard to crochet. Anyways I'm pretty happy with the result!

It's Blooper!

It's Blooper!
Originally uploaded by t0fugurl

After days of playing wii mario kart, I just had to make Blooper. This is the annoying squid who squirts your screen with ink to block your view but I still love him! I loved him most when he was the prophet dude in Mario Party 7 :P

First it was the mushroom, then Bob-Omb, then Boo, now Blooper. It seems that I make a lot of Mario characters haha. Now what should I make next? ;)

Happy MamaDay!!!

Mother's Day Cake + Amigurumis
Originally uploaded by t0fugurl

I'm sorry to write that not all of this is for my mom... only some are. But we wanted colourful things to surround the cake so I brought out my latest amigurumi creations and voila!

Looking at this, I must admit that I spend a little too much time crocheting haha. With all this inventory on hand, I should make more of an effort to get rid of them. My workspace is cluttering up! So here's an advert: VISIT http://t0fugurl.etsy.com/ AND BUY STUFF! Buy more so I can make more! :D

New Feather Headbands!

I was sick all of last week and was in bed the whole time. It didn't feel good at all. I hadn't been that sick for a long time. The doctor said it was bronchitis caused by a bacterial infection. I had a fever for 4 days and lost my voice some time in between too. The good thing was that I recovered just in time to go to Got Craft! This craft fair was smaller than I expected though... but I'm probably unfairly comparing it to Portobello West which is massive!

Check out these beautiful feather headbands I got from the fair:


Patricia makes them and she uses real pheasant feathers that she gets from factories whose by-products are feathers. She makes doubly sure that the birds aren't being killed just for the feathers. You can check out her other headbands at thugfairydesigns.com :)

My first handmade card!

My first handmade card!
Originally uploaded by t0fugurl

This was also for Claire's birthday. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out! There was no theme to it really... I basically tried to use as much of my supplies as possible haha.

The circle cutter didn't work very well on the felt but the black lace ribbon makes everything look nice hehe.

I am very proud of the yellow bow - I tied it myself! I've never been good at tying pretty ribbons but somehow this came out perfectly! :)

Sewing Project #2

Kiwi Roll topped with Strawberry and Blueberries
Originally uploaded by t0fugurl

This was for Claire's birthday. It turned out much better than my first sewing project (http://www.flickr.com/photos/t0fugurl/2203523071/in/set-72157604790573255/). I did hurt myself with the needle several times so the polyfill inside has traces of my blood haha.