happy holidays!!





finally i have a sit-down breakfast ! most of time i eat my breakfast in the car. the past a coupe of weeks were busy but full of challenges.




got some new polaroid films but half of them were jammed inside of the cartridge and this is one of them... a magical one with splashes of winter blue.



hope you are all well!!


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I hope you all had a nice thanksgiving dinner...
I am still thinking about the heat from the oven and the aroma from the herbs.

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soon my mission will be completed and i will return back to this space.
(I know that I've been missing a lot of things here....)

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working & working

I have been working like a CAD monkey lately. Around 10 hours a day and 7 days a week ( plus 2 hours sit in the traffic everyday). I enjoy working but I also miss the things happening in this space.

I will be back soon!!

Jurgen Lehl






Nambu ironware is very good too!!
more nice stuff in their blog.

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carolyn alexander

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Sea Maze
A continuous series of Princess Kavalan

Darkness
(set of 2 prints)






Twinkling
(set of 2 prints)






I'm still loving the story of princess Kavalan and still inspired by the amazing marine creatures details. I'm continuing to do more prints based on this lovely story. They are sets of 2 prints and available in my shop now. You will be surprised about it's low price and I think they will be good for Christmas gifts.
There will be more prints to come next week!!

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Nothing nicer than a sweet package landed at my door when I was totally exhausted and needed to take a good break. Then here is a package from London sitting in my porch, on it's custom form it said " sweets",... yehh, there are mango chutney, plum jam, ginger cookie, raisin fudges.....
oh,... thank you!! phyl, you are so sweet! I love you! your package also brings rain to LA. It has been raining lately! ( another yah!!)






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casa de tree
Nothing better than a vegan bento with ku:nel.



my vegan bento



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moss


I've been weaving lately! I'm working hard on it so forgive me to be disappeared from this space for a couple of days.

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maarten van severen's Atelier
( no more pictures because of the copy right)
follow the links to see more!!

there are more beautiful houses from OWI.
via here.

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thank you Martha for the perfect Yamamoto Jacket link.
will be my coming holiday project................................can't wait!!

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Watch by Denis Guidone


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Ryuji Nakamura







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how to fold a lamp

I bought a roll of sketch paper from Ikea in the kid section. The reason why we chose this paper is because of the price. It's cheap so we can do a lot experiments before we know what we really want to make.

okay, let's start to make the lamp.

The above diagram is the pattern I did for this lamp. The straight and dotted lines are the folding lines on the front side of paper and the diagonal lines are the folding lines on the back side of paper. When I say " front" and back" sides of paper it doesn't mean this paper has front and back sides. Most of papers are not like fabric has identical right or wrong sides. It's just easier for me to differentiate the two folding patterns on two sides of same paper.

1. Start with straight lines first. you can mark lines on the paper. The way I did is marking the line only at the
top and bottom of the paper and then score the lines by rotary knife. You won't see the marks because they
will be hidden after assembling the lamp.

2. I did 40 columns so total is 40 inches long. 1 inch(for each column)x 40 x 1'-6 1/2" (tall)

3. Begin the first diagonal folding line from the 8th column (see the diagram above) and continue.....
remember the diagonal lines should be marked in the opposite side of the straight line's.


**The images below show the sample of paper from the book.
1cm( for each column)x78 x 24cm(tall)




4. After finishing the marking then we can start to fold the lines. One side at a time. If you score the lines
before folding , you find that the folding lines are much more crisp.


5. Start to pull the shape together after you finish folding.




** It will start to like this....... keep pull them together ( in and out).




Ok, in the meanwhile, let's talk to about the core. I got this core from Ikea. I think they are original for their paper lamp. I also got the low watt light bulbs from them. They are in very love temperature so it's safer for the paper lamp.



You can also make your own cord.
**My dear friend Sean made this for me from scratches. You can find all the parts in Home depot.




6. Finally! time to assemble the lamp.
I drilled two holes on the top and bottom and thread the holes with embroider string We have tried metal
wire or polyester string. I think I prefer embroider thread. Adjust the KNOT when you think it can hold the
shape well.





7. Glue the two ends together. You are done !!!



Trust me! It's not that difficult to make this lamp but it takes time. For this small size one (roughly 13" dia.), it took me around 6 to 8 hours to finish.

Let me know if you have more questions. This is just my way to finish the lamp. I think you probably have better idea than mine.

Have a nice weekend and have fun making lamp.

** will be back to share more experiences about the paper and some other patterns.

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Mitsuru Koga






sea stone vases by Mitsuru Koga. Oct 9th to Nov. 2nd at tortoise.

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Two fun magazines for weaving
* You can weave without a serious a floor loom, built your own looms with cardboard or foam board.

1. salvia vol.1.5



foam board loom & weaving with salvage fabric











2. Craft Magazine 08




actionweaver= Travis MEINOLF + cardboard pocket loom

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making more.....






using leftover yarns from weaving to make a necklace/neck warmer.



trying to teach myself how to crochet, another necklace?? maybe?

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keep & share, beautiful knitwear from UK.

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lately.......


good mail day!! lines & shapes vol.4 + Marzipan from Germany! Lucky me!!
(Thank you!! Mav. , Lena for the nice book and Phyllis for the sweets.) I love the packaging of the Marzipan.



(yum,,,,.......)



I did a baby shower invitation for my friend. This is the first time I do stationary. I think I had fun!!

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Last four prints for the princess Kavalan

05 Mr. salmon



06 Caves



07 nightfall


08 Castle

This is the first weekend that I will not be working after I've started to work on the art show. I you with this 4 images now. Just a short and simple post. Will be back soon! Have a good one! friends!

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03 coral 01


04 coral 2



The first two prints ( waves & sea forest) took me forever to finish the sketches and printing. But starting from these two prints everything went smoothly. Also I started to pay more attention of the natural textures.
All the prints are available through the gallery.

If you are interested in any of the prints, you can contact Mylissa. (mylissa@littlebirdgallery.com)

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Princess Kavalan

01 waves



02 sea forest








First, I want to say thank you! my friends. Thank you for stopping by last Saturday, also thank you for the flowers!!

Second, I would like to share some stories about the prints i made for this art show.
At the very beginning when I just started to work on the sketches, I wanted to do a children story book. I did a lot of research about the Chinese children stories. I talked to my friends and sisters in Taiwan and asked them which story is their favorite. I couldn't make up my mind to decide on which story to pick till Chihlung told me the story of " Pricess Kavalan". It's a Taiwanese aboriginal story! I immediately drawn to this story. It's so fascinating!! When i found this story it was 6 weeks before the show I realized that I won't be able to make a children book. I didn't want to give up on this story so I started to do a lot of the sketches based on this story
When I developed these sketches/setting at the same time I did a lot of abtract objects sketches. I have no idea where were those objects come from. They are like human tools, utensils. Something like mirror, hair comb,...etc. Then I had two totally different themes of sketches. This was 3 weeks before the show and also I got an email from Mylissa, gallery manager, asking me to give her the statement and Bio. There were more than 3 days I was struggling about the themes and statements. I wrote two different statements.....but at the end I settled for the story of " Pricess Kavalan". I hate writing but I had to say it's very helpful. Everything became very clear. After I finished the statement it's like a fresh start for me.
Below it's a short version of "Pricess Kavalan" ( my friend, Sean helped me to rewrite the story, thank you! Sean)

Pricess Kavalan, the only daughter of the Dragon King of the Esat Sea, and her forbidden romance with the Turtle General Lusheng. When the two eloped to land, the king followed with his crab and shrimp army and turned Lusheng and their son, Heping, into islands using his magic staff. Hearbroken, Kavakan used magical green pearl to transform herself into the fertil Lanyang Plain, and the frequet rains there are her tears when she thinks of her husband. Her regretful father dropped his staff which beames Jinmian Mountain and he fell and became the mountain range surrounding the Plain, never return to the East Sea.

For me, this is not really a love story between the pricess and the General but it's the love for the nature and the love for the lands and ocean where we live in.
(*Kavalan was one of the tribe living in Taiwan Island before Chinese immigrated to the island. All the islands and the Plain in the story are existing in the real world.)

Will come back to share more later!
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made bread for the breakfast



made another lamp for the gallery

stopped by gallery to dropped off the lamp and checked the installation.

sneak peeks of my work! I will have 8 gocco screen prints in the show. both framed and unframed prints will be available. ( will be back with more pictures of the prints and the opening)

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the show opens tomorrow night, hope to see you there!!

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Have a nice weekend!