So this is how I spent my weekend

If you are not familiar with bento boxes, they are traditional Japanese meals served usually as a packed lunch but I styled mine after one you would find in a Japanese restaurant:



Clockwise starting from the top left hand corner we have seaweed salad with sesame seeds, steamed potstickers and eggrolls, rice with nori flakes and a vegetables (carrots, cucumber, and a lime), four sushi rolls, and in the center a little wasabi and pickled ginger.  

Everything can be removed and rearranged (even the red felt boxes can come out form the larger black box)



close up the the sushi



another angle



I had a lot of fun making this.  The bento box itself was the hardest since I had never attemped felt boxes before.  But the sushi is the most fun just because you roll it up like you would a real sushi roll.  Now it gets packed away until my daughter is old enough to play green tea time with it!  

Comments/critiques welcome!

I am brand new to sewing anything clothes related so here are my first two attempts!

So I had these two maternity shirts that were now too big post pregnancy.  But I really liked them and wanted to do something with them (sorry I forgot to take "before" pics).  I did a bleach screenprint on the grey shirt, took the sides in a generous amount, and then sewed in the hoodie part and the bottom part.





Then I got inspired by this thread: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=160090.0  I decided to use an old jacket I had in the closet along with another red shirt from my corporate days.  It reminds me of the jackets we had to wear in HS marching band (geek!).  This is basically my new favorite thing to wear.





I could nitpick the crap out of them but really overall I am pretty proud of my first attempts!  Sorry for the HUGE pics.  Comments are welcome!

List them here!

Mine are:

- Sell 10 items (2 more than March)
- list 20 items (8 more than March)
- Get business cards printed
- List two others thing besides necklaces
- Get a treasury
*edit*
- Get to 100 hearts (almost forgot about that one!)

So the hubby thought this whole ATC thing was a pretty neat idea so he made one for me!  Since he doesn't dare get onto "crackster" I am posting it for him:



In the picture it is hard to read but the kitty is saying "your backpack looks delish!" and the mouse replies "Good, because it holds you impending doom.  Prepare to die evil feline!"

I was just the sweetest thing when he gave it to me

So my baby girl has a thing for finger puppets.  I made these two little guys out of a sweater I felted.  I still want to add more to the faces but they work for the time being.



And this little guy I made because I wanted her to have the b/w pattered fabric to stimulate her wee mind and the front has touch-friendly velour.




comments and critiques welcome!

So I'll be darned where the site went that was the inspiration for this hat - basically just a rectangle folded over to create ears.  This is the first thing that I have made in a long time that I use every day! 



Me making a "cat fish" face

So I have been hankering for a pin cushion and saw that there had been swaps before for these and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in doing another?  Someone else would have to organize since i haven't yet met the requirements to host a swap.  Anyone else??

So last weekend I thought it would be time to learn to crochet after lurking on this board and seeing all the cute animals/amigurumis.  I thought I would start out with an octopus that was featured here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=114316.0

Well I don't know what really happened but it got out of control so I ended up trying to make a cactus.  Her "arm" looks a little weird and the mouth is crooked.  Plus overall she is a bit lopsided.



frustrated I tried to work smaller but the arms wouldn't work for me so I just some how got to this:



*sigh* one day I will learn to follow a pattern.  I mean they aren't too bad but just not what I was expecting.  The hubby likes them though so that's good.

Sorry for the HUGE pictures and thanks for letting me vent

So I just opened my store and have been totally inspired by fellow crafters who have sold 50 or more items.  And others-I mean some people have sold THOUSANDS.  Do you think that it is just a numbers game to a degree that if you list a 100 items, something has to sell (assuming you aren't selling complete junk)?  Am I making any sense here?  Can you tell I am already itchy to sell anything?

So I am participating in a Monty Python themed swap and I got this idea for the Spanish Inquisition.  It breaks the size rule when fully opened but when closed it fits to 2 1/2 by 3 1/2.  So what do you guys think, is it cheating or not?

This is it closed (it says "Nobody expects" under the ribbon):



And this is it fully opened: