Gorgeous Craft Books

I went to Kinokuniya Bookstore today and browsed around for an hour. I always enjoy being at the bookstores, Borders, Barnes and Nobles, independent book stores...etc. I am always amazed with the high quality books and magazines from Japan. They really pour their hearts out to get the best stuff published. You can tell if you can read Japanese, they really love what they do and they say it out loud through the words. But if you don't know the language, you still know from the pictures and layouts.

I picked up a few craft books during my visit.

Preserved flowers projects - I've always wanted to go to an Ikebana class, may be I will try with the preserved flowers first before the real thing.

Natural Handmade Goods Idea Book - It comes with 2 CD rom. One is filled with 150 clip arts and layouts. The other one is the Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 trial version (For Windows only).

London Ateliers - édition PAUMES is a small and dynamic family run Japanese publishers, working in close contact with artists and designers in Europe on different editorial projects.
With a poetic and original approach, édition PAUMES explores the environments of those who stimulate the creative industries, and in doing has produced a set creative "bibles" that overflow with inspiration.

I want all these "bibles". Pretty please with cherry on top :)

While browsing through the PAUMES website, I learnt about this great rubber stamp artist, Hekisui. Crazily cute!

Finally, I signed up for 2 soap making classes. The first one will be next Tuesday. I will be making soap from scratch, learning the hot process method to make natural scented soaps. I will have lots of fun. I will take some pictures and share it here.

Enough saying...time to read now. :)

Suddenly, Summer

It's been really hot in LA lately. Summer has suddenly arrived.

Thanks to you for the sunglasses. I love them a lot because they are really light, also the colors are lovely - brown/peach. I feel really cool when I put them on (I know, I am silly).

Joyeux anniversaire

Wonderful Birthday.
Wonderful Flowers.
Wonderful Family.
Wonderful Meal.
Wonderful You.

I have been working really hard to launch my craft blog. I've finally designed the logo and carved a stamp for the packaging purpose. Below is the digitalized version. More to come :)

Indian Heroine

A beautiful day to ride a pony in the desert, surrounding by the sand, cactus, soothing breezes and glaring sun.

Here is my carving project for tonight - Miss Indian Heroine. It's a challenge to carve out all the details but I am happy with the end result. I was thinking to paint the background with water color, but my neck hurt so much after staying in the same position to carve for 45 minutes. So...I just took out my color pencils and doodled on the paper.

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Early Birthday Presents

As my b-day is approaching, I've received a few sweet surprises today.

1. Nice words from Anthropologie...no wonder it's always my favorite store in the States. How sweet! A simple coupon card inserted in a well-designed pouch. This reflects true customer service. Hopefully I will find something I like and use the 15% off coupon.

2. The mini teddy bear I purchased from South Korea has arrived as well. OMG! So adorable. I sure will bring her with me when I travel and take lots of pictures. The artist who made the bear was so kind and threw in a bunch of stationary, like postcards and stickers. Another example that pays attention to customer with love.

3. I went to pick up my birthday gift from Sephora. They sent me an email to pick up my birthday gift from any location, I couldn't resist. Again, do I need to repeat? They make customers feel special - an excellent way to retain customers and grow customer's loyalty. I have to admit, I am a sucker at Sephora and I lose control everytime.

I got:
1. Lip Gloss Trio by Sephora (Precious Pink, Rosy Glow, Bronzed Beauty) - a nice gift from Sephora for my birthday.
2. Nude Skincare body moisturizer
3. Hourglass Extreme Sheen lip gloss in Ignite shade - btw, it's the best lip gloss I've ever bought. The color is so natural with high shine. It's not sticky at all but very moisturizing. I was so lucky too because I got the last one in store.
4. Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pad - not for me, but for him. He's the super fan for this product.
5. Korres Pomegranate Lip Butter - but I am using it as the cheek stain. It can be used for lip or cheek.
6. Murad Firm and Tone Serum Bodycare - Free, Beautyinsider gift
7. Givenchy Photo'Perfexion Fluid Foundation in Perfect Honey Shade - Free, Beautyinsider gift. This is the last one in store too.

Lastly, mom called me after I got home and we decided to go to Lawry's Steakhouse for my b-day. She's going to call and make reservation. I feel so blessed for such a great day. Can I be greedy and have more days like this?

p.s. I finally see the little sprouts from the herb seeds I planted a week ago. I was kind of worried because it took such a long time for them to break through their little seed coats. I was thinking may be I bought some bad seeds or not having enough sun light. Again, I worry too much. Things will be okay, it just takes time.