Kaiju Big Battel in Queens

We finished another successful Kaiju show at La Boom in Sunnyside, Queens.

For those who doesn't know, Kaiju Big Battel is a monster fighting spectacle my partner Randy has been doing for 20 years. Randy also has been doing a fundraising show for NYC public schools since 2 years ago with a help from Tara Altebrando, my friend, a NYC parent, and a writer.

This time it was a fundraiser for three Queens charter schools: Our World Neighborhood Charter School, Academy of the City, and Growing Up Green! We donated 100 tickets to each school and tickets were sold out! That's 300 people right there and Randy also sold his own tickets to the public so we had about 700+ loud audience!

Big thanks to my friends Kazuki and Michelle for helping me with the merch table! You guys make the best team!!

Half-time dance show by kids from NYC schools.

With BFF Kazuki (left) and Michelle (right).
They both happen to be fashion designers.
I am a fashion designer magnet :)

Cheese Wax Craft by Kiliko

You know those individual cheese covered in wax, right?
I was just tossing the wax part out till my daughter insisted making a candle out of it.
She was fiddling the wax in her warm hands for a while - which made the wax to soften - and she shaped it into a stick. She asked me to put a wick in it so I just gave her a cotton thread & we wrapped it in the wax. Both my husband & I didn't think it would burn properly, so we placed it on the table as a centerpiece and forgot about the candle for a while.

One night, when my daughter's friend & my friend came over for a dessert, they complimented her creation & we gave it a try: It worked!!! Just like a normal candle. Pretty genius - she turned what we usually throw away into an useful object.

You never can underestimate the little ones' flexible thinking & creativity.

 

A Spring Day

Finally, we can blow some bubbles without feeling freezing.

Our first bubbles of the season.

やっとシャボン玉を吹いてもよいような季節到来。

今年の冬は長かった・・・

Easter Art 2014

My peaceful Sunday-afternoon-nap ended with my daughter's "Mama. I want to do something. I want to make an Easter craft." I mumbled back something like I was Japanese and I had nothing to do with this celebration, but it didn't work. I had to get my lazy ass up to fullfill this little creative soul.

We got to work & this is what we came up with:

I've never dyed an egg in my life, but actually it was fun. This link was handy.

All I needed (note to myself):

1 cup hot water

1 teaspoon vinegar

drops of food colors (amount depends on how saturated you want the color to be.)

jam jar

Dip the eggs in the solution for up to 5 minutes & you are done. We used tapes to make marks on the eggs & used a china marker to draw on it.

Kiliko had the box made weeks ago, so all we did was fill it with shredded colored paper, eggs, chick-shaped flashlight and paper hen upon her request. Kiliko had fun cranking the mini shredder I had.

She was satisfied & went off to watch Frozen (again).

Love this smily face she drew.

Slow Saturday, Artsy Sunday

SATURDAY • 3/22/2014

Leftover lunch bowl.
Itadakimasu.

Photographed and listed more linen
pot holders at my shop in the after noon. 

 SUNDAY • 3/23/2014

Went to The Noguchi Museum for a kids' art class with my daughter.

Though this is geared for children, taking Harumi's classes reminds me of my days at art school; the days we always created and critiqued our work. It's a great exercise of the brain to observe Noguchi's work and Harumi always helps us to look at them in different perspectives.

Today's subject was akari - light - as Noguchi's work sometimes incorporated paper and light.

This is what I made:

I expressed my mind forest.
As a young child in Japan in the 70's, reading thick volumes of original Grimm Brothers' stories was very exotic, it felt like wondering in the dark, but mesmerizing woods. The images and the feel is still vivid today and trees and woods are among my favorite motifs to draw.

In this one, I replaced the LED provided in the class
with a orange-ish flickering light. I like the cozy feel.

I was pretty tired, but Kiliko helped me with the dinner.

She was so proud of her sausage spaghetti - delicious.

Snowman making

"Hi Mama!"

Perfect sticky snow to make snowmen and snowball fights! Luckily, my husband was chosen to go out with our 6-year-old, so I got to watch the fun from a dry, warm room.

  

"Hi again, Mama!"

Daddy always has to work the hardest.

Hat mounting in action.

Adding ear muffs.

Done!

Still out there 10pm.
Stay cold, our best Snowman!

Holiday Cookie Decorating

Today was very productive and festive day for me & the girls. I used IKEA's frozen gingerbread dough  for the first time & pre-baked the cookies a day before with some help from Kiliko. The flavor is pretty good.

My mom always hosted a holiday cookie decorating playdate (almost a party) for me, my three siblings, and our friends before Christmas, and with Kiliko in a good age to enjoy things like this,  I planned to do a smaller version of it this year.

Little pastry chefs.

I looked up icing recipe online & here I'm using a basic icing with powder sugar & egg white. Some recipe calls for some lemon juice, but I did fine without since I didn't have any. It's probably for hiding some eggy taste and maybe the acid preserves it a little? Before I crack open the egg, I washed it in soap and hot water to avoid any salmonella poisoning.

My mom used to use just powdered sugar & water, but the egg white seemed to thicken & stabilize the icing a bit. It hardens nicer and looks more opaque when dry.

Lots of cookies, lots of personalities.

I enjoyed it as much as... well, maybe more than the girls. More I did it, I got more ideas, but cookies ran out before I could try everything. Kind of understood why there are people out there who go really far with iced cookies or even become pros! Need to bake more cookies next year. Wait, there's the Valentine's Day!

More DIY Halloween

I had a little Halloween project for Kili and her good friend Tristan today: DIY trick-or-treat bags!

I printed their names with store-bought stencils on a cotton totes and hand-carved bat stamp out of an eraser. They stamped the bats with fabric ink & drew pictures with Puffy Velvet fabric marker. This marker's ink gets puffy and gives the lines embossed look when heat-set.

We glammed them up with some iron-on glass crystals as well! They are made by Tulip and it works really well - they bond to the fabric pretty easily and steadily.

Everything used in this project was stuff I had for ages with no specific purpose - that was good, too! It is always satisfying to find a use for things.

Nice job girls!

秋晴れの日

今日はカズキさんと自転車に乗って２匹の小猿とLICのplaygroundまで行ってきた。
いつもより少し足を伸ばして、目新しい公園で小猿達も大ハッスル。

金土とほぼ屋内に居たので、陽光がさんさんと降りそそぐ公園のベンチが心地いい。すぐ向こうにイースト川をはさんでマンハッタン。ずっといると肌がじりじり熱いくらいだった。キリコも昨日は親の用事につき合わされてほとんど家で、母としてはうっすら罪悪感を感じていたので、たっぷり公園で走り回っているのを眺めてホッとした。

ボストンからNYに移ってきたての頃はただただ都会の目まぐるしい生活が新鮮だったけど、今はこういうのんびりできる時間が心底大切だなーと感じる。ボストンは都市と言え小規模で、住宅街は割とスペースがあって、緑地・公園・景観のいい自転車道などが豊富だった。求めずとも緑があったし、人も少ないから時間もあった。比べてNYは縦にひしめきあっていて、木や庭も少ないコンクリート・ジャングル。たくさんのおもしろい人達に会えるのは素敵だけど、その分忙しい。自分から憩いを求めないと慌ただしさに埋没してしまいがち。

公園の後はLIC Fleaに寄って出店を見て、その横の船着き場から４人でカヌーに乗った。子供達は真ん中に乗せて、カズキさんが後ろで私が前。川面はおだやかで気持いい。

夕方になったら急に冷え込んだ。
ジャケットのジッパーを上までしめて、自転車をこいだ。
カズキさんが「今日は盛りだくさんだったねぇ」と嬉しそうに言っていた。
紅葉もはじまって秋も本番だ。

夕飯は昨日の持ち寄りパーティの残り物で済ます。
私は久しぶりに一からおいなりさんを作ったのだけど、キリコがえらく気に入ってくれて嬉しい。最近英語ばかりが出てくるのに、いなり寿司のことはすまして「おいなりさん」と言うのがなんだかおかしい。

市販の物と比べて手作りのおいなりさんはあんまり甘くないけど、
やさしい味で何個でも食べられそうだった。

あと２個。明日はキリコと取り合いかな。

happy holidays

Holiday Bazaar!

yoriko New York

Kaiju Big Battel

The Chocolate Swirl - my neighbor!

Freesoul by R

Miwako Kimura

Love Factory

New month, new products!

I have been slowly, but steadily making things.

Below is my latest creation: cloud + lightening organic cotton T!

Hand-stenciled and iron-printed. 

Only available at babyNOIR.

And of course, more bunNYs.
Available at babyNOIR and online

My newest bib design.
Available at hatched and babyNOIR, or online.

And newly stocked my existing designs:

Available at hatched and online.

Available at babyNOIR and online.

babyNOIR exclusive!