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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Crazy + Cozy

January 31, 2024

Hello there! 2024 has started out rather crazily for me: injuries, financial upheavals, accidents (vehicular and otherwise), spectacular emotional blow-ups, resurgence of long forgotten ailments, and just general weirdness -- I’ve contended with them all in the last month. And of course, there are the global/national events. It definitely has NOT been boring. When I was getting my teeth cleaned last week, the hygienist was experiencing a bout of craziness as well, and we joked that maybe Saturn ... Read more

Filed in: crafts, knitting, sewing • by sanae • Leave a Comment

2023 Free Holiday Tags

December 15, 2023

This week I met up with a friend to catch up over delicious green tea, and we both marveled at what a blur this year has been. I can’t, for the life of me, remember much of it. There was the excitement of K’s launch of her first EP, of course. One of her songs from the EP, 1000 Paper Cranes, was featured on KNDD (a local radio station), and we waited with bated breath for her song debut during a segment called Locals Only. Thrilling beyond words. A big highlight for me was working on a ... Read more

Filed in: download • by sanae • Leave a Comment

2023 Advent Calendar – The Final One

November 30, 2023

This is it, my friends. The final Advent Calendar for my not-so-little girl. Next year around this time, she’ll be somewhere on a college campus, taking exams or grabbing food from the dorm cafeteria on her way to a class. The daunting phrase is looming above me all the time lately: empty nester. I have a plethora of thoughts on that. But I won't go into them right now. For 11 straight years, I’ve handcrafted a different advent calendar during the month of November to set it up by the last day ... Read more

Filed in: sewing • by sanae • 2 Comments

Creativebug: The Hanten Coat

October 31, 2023

Hello my friends! I know, I know, it seems like I am constantly updating you on Creativebug classes. I've had the enormous pleasure and honor of filming approximately 20 classes with them, so there's a lot to talk about. My latest class on how to draft and sew a Hanten Coat just launched and I love, love, love this coat. It's an enthusiastic nod to the traditional Japanese quilted short jacket by the same name. You can also check out a fun little styling reel I created with the ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, Teaching • by sanae • 3 Comments

Foxtasia + Squirrelly Thoughts

September 30, 2023

It's the end of September and here I am, pondering life as usual. I found this watercolor doodle in my sketchbook, and it reminded me of how M used to jokingly call me "Foxtasia." He has all sorts of nicknames for me, and the cutest is probably "Honeybunny." He has a thing for animal references, as you can tell. I just read an alarming article about how easy it is to create picture books with AI. I am overwhelmed by how it’s not just picture books that AI can seamlessly generate, but anything ... Read more

Filed in: digital, illustration, illustration + art, watercolor • by sanae • Leave a Comment

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Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones! Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones! I’m spending time with family in the Midwest and there is much to be grateful for, not the least of which is the slower pace this week. Sending big hugs to you! 🧡🧡🧡🧡 Incidentally, this ikebana floral arrangement is one of the illustrations that didn’t make it into my book SHIBUI — I painted a lot of extra illos!

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