Happy Friday! Halloween twenty-eighteen was a good one. A very good one. K hosted a little pre-trick-or-treating gathering at our house for a group of her friends and much jollyness ensued. See that lumpy tunic that human-as-cat K is wearing? I made that. Despite swearing up and down that I wasn't going to make a Halloween costume this year, I found myself cutting out fabric two days before Hallow's Eve. The reason I was anti-handmade costume is because I finally learned from previous ... Read more
Rumi + Toaster = Roaster Sweater Tunic Thingie
I did it! I figured out the tripod/wireless remote situation with my new camera and new photo wall! I just realized that all my shots are a little crooked but I'm out of practice with this whole selfie thing, so let's take it slow and easy. The new camera was a reluctant purchase. I managed to somehow drop and break both my nice Canon and back-up Canon cameras a few months ago (sob!) and after lamenting the losses, I decided to take this opportunity to try out an Olympus mirrorless camera. I ... Read more
New Sewing Set-Up
Hello, hello! Now that Ba-chan, The Ninja Grandma has officially launched, I am sewing like a fiend. You may or may not know that I sew in my bedroom. In our sweet little townhouse, we have a disproportionately huge master bedroom and though I love me some airy minimalism, it seemed a shame to let all that space go to waste. I've carved out a little corner as my "atelier" and for the last 6 or so years, this has been working out pretty well. One of the downsides, however, was that I pushed ... Read more
Espadrilles Kit by A Happy Stitch
Hello, my friends! Amid the swirl of book launch prep, I also made shoes. SHOES. Espadrilles, to be exact. The Espadrilles Kit from A Happy Stitch, to be even more exact. They look legit, right? When my lovely friend Melissa of A Happy Stitch contacted me to see if I'd like to try my hand at shoe-making, I was all in. I was actually a little nervous. There were some super long and curvy needles involved and the very helpful and thorough kit included "needle pullers" (plastic thimble ... Read more
Behind the Scenes with Ba-chan, The Ninja Grandma + FREE GIFT AND GIVEAWAY! [CLOSED]
Today is the day! Hooray! Hooray! My friends, what an incredible ride these last few years have been. Ba-chan, The Ninja Grandma marks the fourth book I've published with Sasquatch Books (and third with their children's imprint Little Bigfoot). My head spun while typing that. What's been fascinating for me is how different the experience has been for each book. Little Kunoichi, The Ninja Girl -- my first book baby -- effortlessly popped out with virtually no changes, nary a stretchmark. I ... Read more