Shout Out - ilovedoodle

I know a while back, I shared a couple links to Lim Heng Swee's ilovedoodle on my Facebook and Twitter, but I simply had to share them here too! I love love love! They're so cute and funny, what's not to love? Once Bruce moves into his own room, I'll be buying a few of these. :D

shop: ilovedoodle

website: ilovedoodle

photos: my belly is a polar bear, i can bear it, we are all stars

Pink Mini Penguin Q

a pink mini penguin for a little girl in the netherlands 

with a red Q for her name

Sneak Peek

working on the website

101 in 1001: #89 Pretty In Pink Bow Pouch

Hello hello! :) I finished all 5 of my Facebook handmade gift projects last week and I'm here to share the fourth gift which was for my sister's friend, Young. I found this darling tutorial over at Make It and Love It by Ashley. Both zipper pouch patterns were so cute but I chose to only make the bow pouch. I used the pink and white patterned fabrics instead of the faux leather because it's what I had on hand and decided to make a rectangular pouch instead of round for room to put more items.

loved the white floral print on the inside

and the pink textured fabric

The tutorial itself is very easy to follow even if you're a beginner sewer. I loved the way it turned out and wanted to keep it for myself and my mom requested I make her one too! ;)

P.S. She has a ton of awesome tutorials including this one that reminded me of the rope coasters I made!

Things That Make Me Smile

Happy Friday! This week wasn't quite as I expected it to be but I'm leaving you on a good note. :)

1. I don't know if I've ever said this but I truly am grateful for everyone who takes the time to comment on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter! And lovely emails too! It not only brings a smile to my face but it seriously makes my day. Recently, I've been getting a lot of positive feedback about My Dear Darling and it amazes me how my penguins or pillows can bring a smile to others! Thank you so much for sharing your stories and thoughts!

2. This week, I started planning Bruce's 1st birthday! Can you believe it? He's turning ONE at the end of September. I've been looking through photos and watching random videos including one of Brucie squirming around in my pregnant belly. It's crazy to think that he was living in my belly not too long ago. My sweet baby is now growing into a little boy. Too fast, I tell ya. ;)

3. I was going to share this silly photo of me last week, but I just wasn't in the right mood. So here it is now. Lol! Bryce suggested I write uplifting quotes on my kitchen mirrors since I was feeling less than crummy one day. So I took it a little further and drew thick brows, glasses, a mustache, and a hat with a red flower. Needless to say, it put me in a better mood! Brandon and I have been using it once in a while to write each other silly notes. ;)

Have a LOOOOVELY weekend!

Shout Out - Mabona Origami

Paper sculptures, including origami, is another one of my loves. I want to try and sculpt, cut, fold many things out of paper but I've only managed to fold paper cranes. (Oh, and this paper doll too!) So you can imagine my amazement when I stumbled across the intricate hand folded masterpieces by Sipho of Mabona Origami.

Stunning, is it not? :D

shop: Mabona Origami
photos: Rainbow Origami Koi, Origami Kohaku, In Pursuit of Happiness

Cupcake Notes

Good morning!

One of my 101 in 1001 projects is to make Brandon 3 handmade notes. I shared the first one with you and here is my second: a handmade cupcake note. :) I made zucchini bread for the first time using this recipe. (Note: I always read the tips from the first few reviewers on AllRecipes.com because they're very helpful.) I couldn't find my bread pan so I made them into cupcakes instead... Or muffins? Hehe, whatever you'd like to call it, they were yummy!

While they were baking, I took a few toothpicks and cut pieces of washi tape to create a mini banner. I wrote a simple note and once the cupcakes were done, I stuck them in and voila! Cupcake notes! I left them out for Brandon to find them the next morning and he was pleasantly surprised. Random love notes = smiley faces. ;)

I'm so happy to start this new week because I had such a good weekend. My family friend drove up to Bodega Bay with her husband and friends from Orange County. They invited us over for a BBQ on Saturday so we got to take a little adventure outside Novato. On the drive there, we saw such beautiful landscapes of rustic farms, animals, huge trees, and even a wedding! So humbling.

Anyway, my friend and her husband rent out a house at a chosen destination and get together with all their friends at least once a year to catch up and take a break. Brandon and I love this idea and hope to do it with our friends! We had so much fun chatting it up and stuffing our face with delicious food, it was hard to leave and come back home. :P

Do you have get together with your friends from all over? How would you spend your weekend with all your friends?

Things That Make Me Smile

On Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from my mom informing me that our family friend, my Aunt Shoko, lost her long battle to cancer. Our thoughts and love are with her family.

It's been difficult for me to talk about her passing and express my feelings to anyone, let alone my husband, so please bear with me. I've lost people I've known in my life and have even witnessed my great grandmother take her last breath. Maybe it's age or maybe I've become more sensitive, but the loss of my Aunt feels a lot different. At times I found myself emotionless, staring into space, finding anything I do meaningless. Other times I'd start crying without any warning, even in the midst of a smile. I felt angry for hurting and perplexed by life. I would think back to the last time I saw her. I can see her smiling at my mom's last flamenco show and I can see her congratulating me at my engagement party. I can even go back to the time when we'd all be eating corn by the pool on a hot summer day with her daughter... over 15 years ago. These and all the other memories of her will never be forgotten. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and friend. I miss her. We miss her. She will always be in our hearts.

I know that this post seems out of place, it being under "Things That Make Me Smile." But I thought it was appropriate because the memories of my Aunt Shoko make me smile. It hurts and I'm still mourning, but I've been encouraged by friends from unexpected places to "laugh at the good times we shared and live on as a part of who I have become." Thank you, Lafayette!

Thank you friends for sending your thoughts and prayers. <3

WHAT News: Work In Progress

new logo

Whew! Let me take a quick little breather...

Ok, thanks! :D I've been working late nights to get the ball rolling for an updated look. We said goodbye to my tagline, gave Niko an animated look, and I've been playing around with coding on the blog to change some things around. Do you like the changes so far?

Yesterday, I had the chance to swap out a lot of graphics including my updated logo that you see above!

old logo with tagline

old logo without tagline

The biggest thing I needed to change was the gift bow icon. "Oh! That's what it was?!" Yup. It's suppose to be one of those pull ribbon bows you put on the top of gift boxes. No? You don't see it?  Hahaha, it's ok. I've had people point it out calling it a flower and ever since I came across this dog butt cover, I never really stopped imagining my icon on Katsu's butt. (I love their tagline: "No more Mr. Brown Eye!" Lol!) So a new icon was a top priority. I designed a more simple bow that was a better fit with "mydeardarling" and changed up the colors for a less in-your-face pink. I kept my original type as I'm currently in the works of creating the whole alphabet. Go, me! :D 

Other graphics I changed out:

old 2009 & 2010 avatars

2011 avatar

(it's a little embarrassing posting photos of myself everywhere)

twitter background

niko in a twitter bird costume!

etsy shop banner

(I do see the alignment issue but right now I'm pretending not to notice)

And poor Facebook. It didn't get a banner update because I didn't realize you can't have a text banner without it being jumbled up every time the page is loaded. (-_-)" So I'll have to design something else for that.

I've also joined Google+. I mean, how can I not! I'm a big Google fan so it was a no brainer. Add me in your circle if you'd like. I'm still exploring so maybe you can teach me a few things. ;)

That's it for today! How are you liking all the updates? There's still more updates to come as I work on projects along the way. :) A special thanks to my sweet husband, my sisters and Bryce for their critiques during the final phase of my logo.

101 in 1001: #88 Blue Market Tote

Hello! Welcome to a new week. Hope you had a good weekend. I feel like I didn't have much of a weekend because I was busy getting lots of projects done, including the updated logo. (I'll share that with you sometime this week.) But it definitely feels rewarding when I cross things off the long long to-do list!

Today, I wanted to post about this tote bag I made for my friend Sarah. I found the tutorial over at the long thread and I loved making it so much that I'll be making it again. One for myself too! :P I love how easy the instructions were and how big & roomy the bag is! I don't even have any pointers or tips to share because Ellen covers it all in the tutorial. :)

This was my favorite gift I've made so far for the Facebook handmade gift project. Only two more to go and I'm actually in the process of finishing them up and shipping them off! Here's to a productive week! ;)

*Apologies for the poor photo quality.

Things That Make Me Smile

This week flew by mostly because we had fun activities, planned and unplanned, that we did! :)

1. Last Saturday, we went to the Marin Fourth of July Fair in San Rafael. It was Bruce's first and we went with our Thursday playdate friends. But let me tell you, it was hot hot hot! And even though we were all sweating, we enjoyed seeing our friend's photograph being displayed in the Golden Gate exhibit, taking photos with a stormtrooper (another one of Bruce's firsts!), being inspired by all the works of art from origami paper sculptures to bonsai trees, drinking ice cold lemonade, and making friends with the local farm animals. Yes, we did a lot! But we missed out on the fireworks because the babies we were too tired. Hehe, so we'll be saving that for next year.

2. Then on Sunday, we went to our friend Jenny's birthday picnic! :D It was a potluck which I was so excited about because I wanted to bring something I made, but I failed. The night before, I cooked rice to make some inari sushi. After the rice cooker beeped, I took out the rice and put sushiko like I normally do. But instead of continuing on and stuffing my inari sushis, I decided to take a mini break to let the rice cool a little more. Bad idea! I completely forgot about it and by the time I realized it, the sushi rice was super hard. :( Brandon didn't want me to stress and convinced me to just buy something on the way. Oh well, lesson learned: Don't forget about the inaris!! :P Anyway, the picnic was so much fun, it being Bruce's first and our first time playing Apples to Apples. Loved it! If you've never played it, you're missing out!

3. Monday was more of a relaxing day and we decided last minute to BBQ. It was just the four of us (including Katsu) and Brandon made the perfect steak. Although I can't give him all the credit because I'm the one that marinated it. Lol, okay so maybe I should give full credit to the Garlic Crusted Ribeye Steak recipe from Weber's Way to Grill. Sounds good, doesn't it? It was goooooood! Anyone want to come by for a BBQ?

4. I got a package delivered this week from The Land of Nod. I saw this a while back and finally bought some storage baskets for Bruce's toys. But I wasn't just happy with the product and how soft they are or even the cute little illustration of a rocket ship on their shipping box. I loved how they included a cute children's activity book for free! :D I know Bruce isn't old enough but it was such a delightful surprise, it made me want to order more in the future. Yes, just because of the cute activity book. Don't tell my husband that. ;)

5. And here's a photo of Bruce from yesterday's play date. Need I say more? Lol!

Have a wonderful weekend! See you next week!

Shout Out - Laura Amiss

I don't know where to begin because I get speechless every time I look at Laura Amiss's works, especially her mixed media stitched canvases. Aren't they amazing?! I love everything about them from the design to color to fabrics to patterns down to the stitching. Make sure you check out her Flickr photo stream too! Don't miss this, this, this and this! (My faves.) ;D

shop: Laura Amiss
website: Laura Amiss
flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauraamiss
photos: rain, over the sea, home is where you take it

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

after

Good morning! :)

I don't have a personalized plush to share with you today so I thought I'd share one of the many projects I accomplished worked on last weekend. I stuck some mirrors above my sink for $6. It was a spur of the moment project and I'm still deciding whether I like it or not. Hahaha, yeah, one of those projects.

Originally, I wanted a cute poster (one of these, perhaps) or a white framed mirror or even a medicine cabinet, but we were at Ikea and I had no idea what the dimensions were. So I went with the 4 square mirrors for $5.99 that you just stick to the wall. I thought it'd be a cheap & simple solution to bring light and space into the corner. And it does! So I don't know if I just don't like where I placed the mirrors or the fact that I'm pretty short so I only see down to my chin. Sometimes I love it, sometimes not so much.

before

Of course, this isn't the dream kitchen since we live in an apartment but it's a nice temporary fix. I'm definitely looking forward to getting that dream kitchen one day. ;)

How was your weekend? Did you get any projects done?

Things That Make Me Smile

Happy Friday & July!

This week was a good week but I'm ready for some fun over the holiday weekend! Do you have any plans? :) We'll be at the Marin County Fair one of the days and a birthday potluck on another, but before I go off to figure out what to make for the potluck, here's what made me smile this week:

goodbye Ms. CRV

1. Last weekend, we took a quick road trip down to Orange County, bade farewell to our CRV, and welcomed the Pilot into our Phamily. I was a bit sad to part with the CRV because it's what brought Bruce home from the hospital and shared countless other memories. But after spending 8 hours on the ride back with Mr. Pilot, I think I've warmed up to him. :)

2. Watching my dad play with Bruce. I could never get tired of this.

3. Katsu sunbathing by my dad's pool. Isn't it ridiculous that he uses the lounge chair? And if someone jumps in the pool, he has to join the fun. His rules, not mine. ;)

4. Irises. It's been so nice to have flowers around the house lately. From my peonies, hydrangeas, a mixed flower bouquet, and now I have these vibrant irises in my home. My mother always said that flowers never fail to put a smile on her face. Oh, how true it is for me too!

5. Yesterday, Bruce and I had a play date and my goodness, my friend's daughter, Ariella, makes me want to have a girl one day! She's just a little older than Bruce but she's calmer and just so darn cute and spunky! :D We all went for a walk and both babies passed out by the time we got back. It's always nice chatting it up with girlfriends who are mommies too, especially when they give you countless advice on motherhood. ;)

Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend and see you next week!