Rose + rasberry mousse cake

These dome shape spongy looking peach like things are cakes that were made yesterday. I joined a baking class yesterday morning, worked very hard for 2 hours then I was able to enjoy super tasty rose and rasberry mousse cakes in the afternoon.

The surface is covered with pink chocolate powder. Then from top to bottom is rose + rasberry mousse, rose creme brulee, sponge cake, lychee meat, sponge cake again.

Metallic mantis

While my husband is a big fan of Gundam model building and Lego bricks building, I don't have much interest in it, mainly because I hate following complicated instruction books. The last time I can recall building a model was building a stealth bomber model during the Gulf War period. After nearly 20 years I played with model building again.

I got attracted by the display of this model inside a home craft shop in Japan 2 months ago, intrigued by the delicate and stylish design of this metallic mantis I decided to try building one at home.

After opening the box and pouring out the items, I was petrified at the moment when I saw the long and complicated instructions sheet.  Am I able to complete it? Though I am Japanese literate I doubted my capability of reading technical instructions. In addition, the numerous attention signs were intimidating. I could not imagine assembling such a small scale delicate model demands so much attention.

Luckily I did not struggle too long for completing my mantis. This model is perfectly designed, every part fits in beautifully, instructions clear enough for a beginner. It is surprising that not many screws are used, each piece is designed so well that they interlocked with each other, holding other parts firmly.

There are totally 9 movable parts on the mantis, the head, the 2 arms, the 4 limbs and the 2 wings.

  

 

Old shops in Paris

Window shopping in Paris is sooooo enjoyable! Not only the merchandise are pretty, the shops itself are very pretty as well. The Parisiens love keeping the old designs, even the shop nature has changed completely, they still keep the old shop signs or old decorations.

my travel companion

Last year I travelled to Paris with my husband and Jiji. Jiji is my stuffed toy, he is the black cat inside the Japanese animated movie Kiki's Delivery Service . I made accessories for him to wear so he can have different looks everyday. His wide opened eyes were filled with curiosity where ever he went.  He is a very good model, he matches very well with the scenery in Paris.

 

 



a visit to my uncle's home

My uncle (my mom's elder brother) loves Chinese traditional arts and crafts, he decorated his home with lots of Chinese artifacts and his own Chinese calligrahy.

Japanese traditional summer dresses - YUKATA

July is the season of fireworks and yukata. Yukata is traditional Japanese garment, a casual kimono which is made of cotton, much more affordable than kimono. Everyweek there will be big firework displays and night markets and traditional dance parties in every part of Japan, many Japanese will wear yukata to attend these events.

The first time I witnessed someone wearing traditional Japanese garments was during my first trip to Japan when I was 6 years old. I was fascinated by the colors and the patterns on the long sleeved dress. They seem to have many layers and a thick pretty belt with a cute little pillow attached at the back. Everyone looks adorable with these dresses.

I finally own my first piece of yukata 10 years ago when I was studying in Tokyo. I can still remember clearly the day I chose my yukata (with very limited budget) and the pretty sales lady taught me how to wear it by myself. I learned it so well that I was able to help frustrated Japanese girls to wear their yukata in the school's changing room.

Every year there will be new designs for yukata from brand name shops. My favorite is Tsumori Chisato.

Their style can be easily distinguished from the others, they are not traditional Japanese fabric patterns, their prints are like Japanese ink paintings.

Their drawings on the belts are most appealing for me

As a cat lover, how can I resist the charm of these designs.

Although I admire Tsumori Chisato yukata so much, I never bought one, it's too expensive for me. Moreover, no one wears yukata in Hong Kong besides waitresses in Japanese restaruants.

This is the only one I have ever owned. Though it's nothing splendid but I love it, I am very pleased with what I have chosen 10 years ago.

My first expriment with wool

Needle felting is a new craft for me, I learned it about 1 year ago. These colorful fluffy cotton candy looking wool captured my heart since my first encounter with them. Despite I know nothing about the techniques of needle felting, I could not stop myself from buying a few bunches. At first I did not know what to do with them, I treated them like flowers and arranged them into a bouquet of wool.

Afterwards I bought a needle felting kit, following the instructions and created a penguin, it is my very first needle felted object.

a good START with my baby Dinosaur

Today I want to start creating a blog. I will mostly write about my hobbies that are related to arts and crafts and things that are pretty and interesting for sharing.

**********************
Most of us in Hong Kong live in tiny apartments, we dont have much space for storage. Things that are useless or seem worthless will be thrown away, even things full of childhood memories are forced to be discarded. It's a pity.
 I created lots and lots of things during my school days, but 98% of them were thrown away, apart from some drawings only one handmade item has been kept, that is my baby dinosaur. He is so lucky that he manages to escape from the rubbish bin all these years. I seldom play with clay when I was small, probably less than 5 pieces were made, that makes this dinosaur so special that he can remain on the shelf.

The reason for creating this dinosaur has been forgotten. What has inspired me to design this dinosaur can not be recalled. Only his birth year is known, "1993" written by me at it's base. WoW! I am a mother of a 18 years old dinosaur !